Truths and Legends
by The Prettiest Frog in the Pond
Summary: A local legend proves to be far more twisted than just murder. What really happened the night the Elrics died? Every answer seems to lead to more questions, and the key to the whole mystery lies with two dead boys who might never even have existed... AU
1. Prologue: The Night the Elrics Died

_New story! Hoorah!_

_I've had this idea for a while now and only just got it down on paper- er, computer. Also, just so you know, I'm trying to make every chapter a minimum of three pages, size eleven font, which should hopefully prevent short chapters! And once again, I will be doing my best to update daily. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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**Truths and Legends**

_Prologue: The Night the Elrics Died_

The gunshot was louder than it had any right to be on that still night. The people of Rizembul stopped dead in their tracks.

"What was that?" somebody asked. "It couldn't have been- that wasn't- it wasn't, was it?"

"A gunshot-"

"-But who would-"

"-In Rizembul? What-?"

A hubbub of frightened voices began; parents calling for their children, nobody really sure what they had heard. It couldn't have been a gun, surely, not in Rizembul- who would want to kill anybody in Rizembul? Rizembul was small, peaceful, timeless. Things like murder didn't happen here- crime was a city thing, it didn't belong in this tiny, picturesque village. It couldn't be- it couldn't be- _it couldn't be-_

"Where did it come from?" somebody asked. "Who... why...?"

That was the question nobody could quite bring themselves to voice: _Who's being shot at?_

And then that question was answered as a terrified Trisha Elric came running down the road from the mansion.

* * *

Trisha was not dressed in her usual expensive, sensible clothes, but in her nightgown, and her hair was not pulled neatly away from her face as it normally was, but hanging loose. Her feet were bare and scratched from the run across the stony ground, and her face was pale and coated with a sheen of sweat.

"Trisha?" Doctor Rockbell rushed towards the panicked woman. "Trisha, what's-" he cut himself off as she threw herself at him, clutching at the front of his shirt.

"You've got to help us, please, please!" she begged, wild-eyed. Doctor Rockbell rubbed her back soothingly, a worried frown on his face.

"Of course, Trisha, of course we'll help you, but what's happening?" he asked. "Trisha?"

However, Trisha did not answer him- instead she looked up with wide, horrified eyes. "Oh, god, my _boys!_" she cried, and wrenched away from him to run up towards the mansion again.

"Trisha, wait-!" he called, but she ignored him. "Trisha, it's dangerous, please!" he began to run after her, accompanied by a few of the other residents, while others went back to their houses for weapons, or to lock their children safely away from whatever danger was to be found up at the mansion.

They were a good way behind Trisha, but it didn't take them long to catch her up- she was stood alone in the trees, gabbling to some unseen person.

"Don't hurt them, please! I'm begging you, don't hurt them!"

"Trisha!" Doctor Rockbell called. "Trisha, get away from them, get away! TRISHA!" he yelled. "We'll save your boys, Trisha, but get away!"

Perhaps she didn't hear him, or perhaps she simply didn't listen, because she stayed where she was, sobbing for whoever it was she could see that they couldn't to leave her sons alone, _please_-

_**Bang.**_

Trisha fell silent and staggered back, crumpling to the ground.

There was a horrified silence.

"Trisha?" Dr Rockbell asked, tentatively. He walked towards her, slowly, cautiously, the rest of the village holding their breath behind him. "Trisha?"

"Doctor Rockbell, is she...?"

He placed his fingers on her wrist, on the side of her neck- but instead of a pulse, he felt nothing.

"She's..."

He swallowed. "Trisha..."

He looked up at the people of Rizembul, hovering respectfully, concernedly around him a few meters away. His throat constricted as he saw the fear in their faces, and he felt tears pricking at his own eyes- Trisha was one of his wife's closest friends, and one of the kindest, sweetest people he'd ever met.

"I- I'm sorry." he said hoarsely. "She's gone."

The people of Rizembul stared, unable to believe what they'd just heard.

_Gone?_

_Dead?_

Hesitantly, shakily, someone broke the silence. "We... we should search for her boys... she... she wanted to save them..."

"Y-yeah." somebody else agreed. "I never even knew they had any kids..."

"I don't think anyone did... I... it doesn't matter now, anyway. Let's find them, and Professor Hoenheim... get them to safety."

Dr Rockbell nodded. "We have to prevent anything else..." he trailed off.

The villagers began their search, combing the grounds of the mansion first- they found Hoenheim Elric dead by the open front door of the grand house.

"Who could've- who- _why?_"

"The Elrics have never done any harm to anybody..."

"Oh, fuck, the kids! We only heard two shots, right? Do you think- maybe there's still time..."

"We should search the house, we've already looked through the grounds."

Doctor Rockbell took a step towards the front door, but then stopped as a small voice spoke up.

"It's too late." the voice said quietly. The group turned to see Winry Rockbell.

"Winry, what are you doing here?!" Dr Rockbell shouted, a mixture of angry and frightened that his child was here, where there likely still was a murderer hanging around.

Winry merely shook her head and repeated herself hoarsely. "Too late."

"Winry, what do you mean it's too late?" asked somebody else, slightly more gently than the frantic Dr Rockbell. "Why is it too late?"

The ten-year old girl looked around and bit her lip. "I was following you, but then I thought it might be dangerous so I went home... w-well, I was going home... I went along by the river 'cause it's faster," her breath hitched. "There were two boys, and, and, and-!" she gave a gasping sob.

"It's okay sweetie, shush, it's okay... she's panicking here, people, give her some space! Okay, love, in your own time. It's okay."

Winry gave a few more quiet sobs, and then continued. "The first one yelled to the second one... he said, he said, 'Al, quickly, this way!" and then they were running towards that place, you know, where the river goes between those really high rocks, and..." she swallowed. "They just... they just... fell..."

"They fell off those rocks? Oh god, there's no way they could've survived that..."

"S-somebody looked over, and, and he said, 'Well, they're dead now,' and then I ran here."

The girl sobbed again, and then started to full-out bawl. Dr Rockbell rushed to his daughter's side to try and comfort her while the rest of the group stood in horrified silence.

"The kids too?"

"But who would... why would anybody want to kill the Elrics?"

That was the question that nobody could answer.


	2. The Legend of the Elric Mansion

_I tripped yesterday, hurt my foot and had to stay home from my volunteer work. Ouch. But hey, you're more interested in the chapter, right? Right. I'll get on with it then._

_Edit: Thanks to Turtle Kid for pointing out a mistake in this chapter.  
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_Discalimer: I own nothing.

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**-SEVEN YEARS LATER-**

_Chapter One: the Legend of the Elric Mansion_

Roy Mustang scowled as he read the letter in his hand. It was from the bank, none-too-politely requesting that he pay back the money he had borrowed last year. He considered throwing it into the fire in the grate, but decided against it. Riza would kill him- probably slowly and painfully- if he did that.

Roy worked as a sort of private detective slash investigative journalist with his team; Riza Hawkeye, Vato Falman, Jean Havoc, Heymans Breda, Maes Hughes and Kain Fuery. They investigated unsolved crimes and published an account of what had really happened- but lately, he was having difficulties finding a suitable mystery. They'd already _done_ the Moor Murderer, and they'd published the story of the Bodies in the Bog. They'd uncovered the fraud at Youswell, revealed the hoaxers in Central... so what to do _next?_

He thought it over, browsing through the newspaper distractedly. He was skimming over an article about a group of art thieves when he noticed a piece of trivia at the foot of the page: apparently, today was the seventh anniversary of the mysterious Elric murders; the shooting of a well-liked professor and his wife in front of most of the local village, becoming a topic of gossip and speculation, and a major feature in many local horror stories.

Roy grinned.

"Riza," he called, "I think we've got a story."

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They arrived in Rizembul the next day and took up lodgings in the tiny local hotel- so tiny, in fact, that they ended up having to go two to a room to avoid taking up all the space. Roy roomed with Jean, Heymans with Vato, Kain with Maes, and Riza all by herself, because she said she didn't trust them not to spy on her while she changed.

Once housed, they began exploring the small local library. They dug out every article they could find relating to the murders and spread them out across the table.

"Let's see... '_The small village of Rizembul was in a state of shock last night when Professor Hoenheim Elric and his wife Trisha were shot in cold blood in front of most of the community. Investigations have begun, but as of yet, it is not known who is behind this tragic event, or what their motives may be. Nothing in the Elrics' large country home was stolen or damaged, and the Elrics had no known rivals. The people of Rizembul are greatly saddened and incredibly shocked by this event: "The Professor and Trisha, they were good people," one resident says. "Really lovely people... Trisha was one of the kindest people I've ever met, and the Professor was always very generous. I can't imagine who'd want to shoot them- they were such lovely people." A service will be held for the Elrics in Rizembul church on Monday the twentieth of October for those who wish to pay their respects. They will be sorely missed_.' " read Maes.

They read several other articles, but none had a great deal of information- however, they did find something: it seemed that Hoenheim and Trisha Elric had not been the only ones to die that night.

According to some reports, Trisha had died begging for mercy for her sons- sons that nobody had ever seen or heard of. The Elrics had supposedly been childless, and yet two boys, the Elric brothers of local legend, had been seen on that fateful night, apparently being chased by someone, and had fallen to their deaths from the high rocks around the river that ran through Rizembul. The only witness had been a ten year old girl- Winry Rockbell, daughter of the local doctors.

"So, what exactly happened here?" asked Roy, frowning at the stacked documents.

"I can't figure it out, Roy. I mean, it seems like an average murder at first-" he cut himself off and wrinkled his nose. "Wow, that's a weird thing to say." He shook his head, and continued. "Anyway. It seems like an average murder, but we've got no idea who the culprit is, or what the motive was. By itself, that isn't too interesting, but then there're these boys....." Maes trailed off.

"The Elric brothers?" Vato raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. That's the weirdest part of all this. I'm not talking about them being killed- the murderers were targeting all the Elrics, I'm not surprised they went after the kids too, sad as it is- but why did nobody know about them before they were killed? Even the local _doctor_ had no idea they existed, but that night... Trisha Elric went back for them, at the cost of her own life. I suppose it's possible she was delusional, but I doubt it. Besides, that little girl saw them, didn't she?"

Roy frowned. "I don't know, aren't they just a local legend? You really think they exist?"

"I think they did, once, and I think they might have had some vital clues too. I mean, you don't just keep kids locked away from the outside world without a reason, not unless you're some kind of secret child abuser... which I suppose is possible, but I doubt it. If they were abusing them, why would Trisha go back to save them?"

"Guilt?" offered Riza. "Regret for what she'd done?"

Maes shook his head. "Possibly, but... No. I think there was a good reason those kids were hidden, and I bet that whatever that reason was, it had something to do with their murders."

"Why on earth would you keep two kids hidden away from the world, though? What possible reason could they have that's serious enough to get them _killed?_" Kain asked.

Maes frowned. "I don't know, but maybe somebody around here does... we should talk to the locals, they might have some idea."

Roy snorted. "Yeah, but how much will they know, and how much will they have made up? Well-liked couple and two mysterious boys suddenly killed in cold blood for no apparent reason... it's a _legend_ around here. It's a small country village int he middle of nowhere, interesting things don't happen that often- and this is definitely interesting. Not to mention that it's been seven years; plenty of time for memories to fade, or for stories to be embellished beyond recognition. "

"That's true, but we've still got to talk to them. They must know at least _something._"

Roy sighed. "Just make sure you take what they say with a grain of salt. We've got to separate the fiction from the fact."

"I know, I know. But you can't just dismiss them."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Alright. We'll talk to the locals tomorrow, just don't blame me if you get a load of tall stories."

"We should head to bed. Early bird catches the worm after all."

Roy smirked. "Right, because that's what we're looking for. Worms."

It was at this point that Riza interrupted. "Maes is right, we should go to sleep. You can argue about the Elric brothers in the morning."

They went upstairs without argument- after all, the case had waited seven years. It could wait another night.


	3. The People of Rizembul

_Well, my foot stopped hurting... it's a bit late, considering I've already missed all my volunteer days this week, but it could be worse. Ah, well..._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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_Chapter Two: the People of Rizembul_

"The Elrics, huh? They were good people. What do you want to know about them?" the tiny old woman drew a long breath from her pipe, scrutinising them all through her glasses.

"We wanted to know about the night they died, Ma'am," said Riza, "If it's not a sensitive subject...?"

Pinako Rockbell shook her head. "No, it's all right. The night they died... it was a long time ago," she said, taking another thoughtful puff from her pipe, "Seven years, now, right? But if memory serves me correctly... I'm pretty sure we heard a shot before anything else, and then Trisha Elric- kind woman, very friendly- came running into the village in only her night gown. She ran up to my son and asked him for help... well, he asked her what was happening, of course." Pinako said. "Rizembul's a quiet little place, and gunshots aren't exactly normal. She didn't answer him though, but ran back up to the mansion calling out for her boys...They say that she was shot begging them not to hurt her sons. The professor was found dead a few minutes later- and my granddaughter, Winry, saw two boys fall off those rocks... they never had a chance, not one of them." she sighed softly.

Every one they'd asked had given them similar answers- although one man insisted that the Elric brothers were demon children who practiced the black arts. They dismissed that idea as ridiculous, and compared the other, more credible stories to try and find the real story behind all the exaggeration. Although there were a few variations, the people of Rizembul had agreed on the key points of the story: there had been a shot, Trisha had come and asked for help, run off, begged some unseen murderer not to hurt her kids, been killed, then her husband had been shot, and then her sons had been chased to their deaths.

A nasty business, by all accounts.

"I see... Thank you, Mrs Rockbell. Do you know if we could we speak to your granddaughter?" Maes asked politely.

"Sure, she's here now. Winry!" she called into the back of the house. A far younger voice called back.

"Coming, Granny!"

After a few seconds, a girl of seventeen years old with long blonde hair entered the room. "Hey, granny. What do you want? And who're these guys?"

"They've been asking questions about the Elrics, and they want to talk to you. That alright?"

"Oh... Sure, I suppose. Ah... ask away, I'll answer what I can."

" We wanted to ask about the Eric brothers- you're the only one who's seen them, it seems. Anything you can tell us would be helpful."

Winry frowned.

"We-ell, I... I don't really know anything about them," she said. "I just saw them, that night... before they died."

"It's alright," said Riza, "Just tell us what you saw, Miss Rockbell."

"I- well, I was curious, so even though Mum told me to stay home, I followed Dad and the rest of the villagers up to the mansion... but then I heard the gunshot and people saying Mrs Elric was dead, so I got scared, and decided to run home. I took a shortcut through the trees... I'd never have seen what happened, if I'd been on the road," she said. "There were two boys, about my age, running away from somebody. I didn't see who was following them, or at least, not very clearly- all I know is that they had long hair. The person was catching up to the boys, when suddenly one of them said- I think he said 'Al, this way!'... th-they changed direction- towards the river."

Winry swallowed. "I tied to call out to them, I tried, but it was like I couldn't talk- I couldn't warn them, and they, they didn't stop... they fell." she said quietly. "And the person chasing them stopped running, and looked over the rocks- they said, 'well, they're dead now,' and then they went off, I don't know where."

"And then you went and told your dad, right?"

Winry nodded. "Right."

"Can you remember anything else? What did the boys look like?"

Winry furrowed her brow, looking thoughtful. "Well... I think they were my age... The one who looked a bit older- the one who said 'Al, this way!'- he was blonde, and the other one, Al, I suppose, his hair was sandy brown. Other than that, I can't really remember..."

"That's fine. I'm sorry we made you relive that, Miss Rockbell... Thank you for your help." said Maes Hughes, smiling comfortingly.

"No, it's okay. I want to find out what happened just as much as you do, actually... I always wanted to know a bit more about them."

Maes smiled, and assured her they'd tell her whatever they found out, and then they returned to the hotel with plenty to think about.

"Well... nothing particularly worth noting, but we do have a description of the Elric brothers." said Jean.

"Provided it wasn't all in her head." Roy reminded him. "She could've just imagined it."

"No... I don't think so," said Kain thoughtfully. "She seemed too.. down-to-earth, too certain. I don't think she'd have been so sure of herself if she'd made it up..."

"I agree," said Breda. "She saw something, alright. It might not have been the Elric brothers, but it's fairly likely that it was... if someone was trying to kill off all the Elrics, it would make sense that there'd be someone chasing the brothers, and if it were somebody who was concerned about them, they wouldn't have just walked away when they fell."

"That's true," said Riza. "And there were no reports of missing children around that time either, so I doubt it was a couple of village kids, messing about- it would've made the news if two children disappeared at the same time as the Elrics were murdered. It's possible that she's made it up- but I don't think she did."

"So basically, we still don't know for sure if the Elric brothers existed, and even if they did, then they're dead." said Roy, unimpressed.

"Yeah, pretty much." said Maes, not appearing to mind the lack of clues. "So, no help there. But tomorrow we're going up to look at the mansion itself, so we can have a little look around and see what we find."

Kain nodded- and then a thought occurred to him. "Hey... what do the police think about the Elric brothers?"

"They think that Trisha was delusional." shrugged Roy. "They said there were two rooms that could've belonged to kids in the house, and a nursery, but the rooms were neat and clean, as if they had never been used, and the nursery was tidy. The servants denied the existence of any children. As far as the police were concerned, the brothers never existed, and the nursery and bedrooms were there because Trisha wanted kids badly enough to pretend."

Jean frowned. "But from what we've heard today, she was a happy, cheerful woman, not delusional. Surely if she was that desperate, she'd have adopted kids- and if she was crazy enough to believe in imaginary children, why would she be sane enough to keep her 'boys' hidden? I think they existed, and they wanted to hide that for some reason- but when Trisha thought their lives were in danger, obviously she was scared enough to give up the charade."

Roy sighed. "This is going nowhere," he said. "Let's go to dinner... we'll find out more when we visit the mansion tomorrow."


	4. The Elric Family

_I like this chapter. I'm not sure why, I just do._

_ Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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_Chapter Three: The Elric Family_

The Elric mansion was a lovely red brick building, with large, arched windows and spacious, airy rooms. It was set in once beautifully-tended grounds, with what was once a rose garden at the front of the house, and a now wild and murky ornamental pond, a vegetable garden run rampant to the back of the house and an overgrown and tangled orchard to one side. The mansion had four floors, and it had been divided into three parts: the central part of the house for guests, the south wing for the Elric family themselves, and the north wing for the few servants who had worked there- however, since the murders, it was as though a permanent bloodstain sullied the house. Nobody had even bothered to sell off their possessions; it remained locked and untouched, a huge, silent memorial to those who had lived- and died- there. From the outside, it was melancholically beautiful: the gardens alive with wildflowers, growing free across the lawns, trees already putting down root, and in the midst of it all, an empty house, honeysuckle creeping over the brickwork and brushing at the arched windows.

The insides of the mansion fared badly, too; the extensive library went to waste, the upholstery greyed and faded and gradually, everything was covered by a layer of dust. Animals strayed in to make their homes in the protected warmth of the mansion, and the Elrics' home, once bright and cheerful and full of light, was empty and dull, muted and faded without Trisha's cheerful countenance or the Professor's gentle, authoritative presence reigning over it, lifeless without the bustle of servants in the north wing.

Roy had gotten the key from Trisha's mother, who had pressed it into his hands with a strength that belied her frail appearance, and then looked him dead in the eye, saying, "Find out who did this to my little girl." Roy had promised that he would and now here he was, unlocking the doors. They creaked only a little, despite their many years of abandonment, and behind them stood the tarnished splendour of the Elric mansion.

There was a wide, curved staircase, a thick, soft carpet, large mirrors, vases that must once have held flowers... in his mind's eye, Roy could see it as it must have been years before- bright and full of colour. To his left there hung a portrait of the late professor, austere and grave, but with the hint of an amused smile on the painted face. On the right, opposite the professor's painting, was a portrait of his wife: a lovely, cheerful woman with long brown hair and a kind smile.

Riza, Maes, Vato, Breda, Jean and Kain followed him into the house, staring up at the high ceiling and taking in the mixture of old and new. Sure, the house itself was old, but the Elrics themselves had lived only seven years ago- there were photographs here and there, a telephone on a low table near the door, and the stables had been converted into a garage: all of these things brought the grand old house a little closer to the modern era. Jean let out a low whistle.

"They weren't badly off, were they?" he asked. It was true: even unshakable, stoic Riza looked a little surprised by the luxury the Elrics had lived in.

The group moved into the parlour, and then the dining room, taking in the portraits and the expensive furniture, the beautiful ornaments and ornate clocks... but so far, there was nothing to indicate that two small boys had ever lived here. Had the Elric brothers been a lie after all?

Moving on, they wandered through the north wing, the servant's quarters- but despite that, it wouldn't have been a bad place to live. It was just as bright as the central part of the house, and just as beautifully, albeit more modestly, furnished. The furniture was obviously not as expensive as those the Elrics and their guests would've used, but it was apparent that servants here could've expected to live nearly as well as the Elrics themselves had done, and certainly quite a bit better than many of the less well-off residents of Rizembul. After a thorough look around the servant's quarters they finally moved onto the most interesting part of the house: where the Elrics themselves had spent most of their time.

Roy passed the master bedroom, the bathroom, the study- he could look at those later. What was interesting were the two small rooms at the end of the corridor, each one containing a single bed, a wardrobe and a desk, a few miscellaneous toys and a shelf of books.

The rooms were tidy, something Roy found interesting: every other room had been left as it was at the moment the Elrics died; chairs left out and a few plates and some cutlery still on the table, pots and pans still lying around the kitchen, cupboard doors ajar, books open on the tables and shelves, moth-eaten sheets and cushions still strewn haphazardly where they had been left. Why, then, were these rooms perfectly neat?

He pulled open the desk drawer to see if a clue would be found there, and sure enough, he was confronted by a school book. In faint, faded ink on the front cover was written _Alphonse Elric, History, age nine._

"Well, what do you know?" Roy thought aloud, putting the book back into the drawer and closing it. He left the room and crossed the corridor to another, similar room, with another desk: he hunted through the drawers until he located a second schoolbook. This one read _Edward Elric, French, age ten._

"Edward and Alphonse Elric." he muttered to himself. "Huh."

From one of the other rooms, there was a cry of, "Roy!"

He put the book back in the desk and shut the drawers, shutting the door behind him as he followed the voice out of Edward Elric's room.

* * *

It was a library.

Well... 'Library' was a rather mild way to describe this room. 'Library' did not do it justice: this was no library, it was a _haven_ of books. Roy had known they had a library, and he had been expecting it to be a rather good one, given Hoenheim Elric's profession and the extravagance of the rest of the house, but... _wow_. That was the only word he could summon forth to describe this lost world of knowledge.

Shelves lined every wall and books lined every shelf. Every available surface was covered with heavy tomes, and then some. It was a veritable growth of books, as if they somehow multiplied when nobody was looking. Deep, comfortable armchairs were scattered at random through the room, and there was a large fireplace opposite the door to keep the room warm and cosy on cold winter nights. It was dusty, yes, and as the electricity bill had been unpaid for the past seven years the lighting was dim, filtered through dirty windows, but Roy didn't care- he was already browsing the shelves.

There was very little in the way of fiction, but vast amounts of non-fiction; most of which involved science. What fiction there was mostly romance, he noticed. Perhaps Trisha had liked it? Or maybe the Professor himself had harboured a secret love for the saccharine stories? There was also a large section dedicated to the legendary art of alchemy, which Roy thought slightly odd at first, but then he remembered that the Professor had firmly believed that there was some truth in the old myths, and had been trying to find out why alchemy had been lost to them.

"This," he said when he found Maes beside a shelf stacked with history books, "is amazing. I've never seen a library like this. It's just.. amazing."

Maes Hughes laughed. In their line of work, they saw plenty of libraries, but he had never seen one render Roy speechless before- but then again, it was rather fantastic.

"Yeah, it's an amazing library chief," said Jean, coming up behind them, "but that's not why I called you in here. Look at this."

"What is it?"

"Round here," said Jean, leading him past another aisle of books, "Look."

It was perhaps the only wall in the room without floor-to-ceiling books Instead, there was a huge portrait. It showed a tall, blonde man and a sweet looking woman, the Professor and his wife-

-and stood before them, looking distinctly uncomfortable in their stiff, formal suits, two young boys.

"The Elric brothers," Roy murmured.

Maes came up behind him and slapped him heartily on the shoulder. "There you go, Roy," he said, smiling, "We already know more about them than everybody else in this town put together. Not bad going, huh?"

"Yes, but we still don't know enough... just their names, and how old they were when they died." he sighed.

"Somebody's pessimistic," said Maes. "But it's strange, don't you think? They must've cared for their sons. I had a look in their rooms earlier- they had nice clothes, toys, books... and then there's this portrait, too. They look cheerful, healthy, bright- the kind of kids any parents would want to show off. So why didn't they? Why on earth did they keep them hidden away from everyone?"

"I don't know, Maes," said Roy, looking up at the portrait. Edward and Alphonse Elric looked back at him; the one he assumed to be Edward scowling, two golden eyes narrowed in obvious displeasure, while Alphonse smiled cheerfully. "I really don't know."


	5. The Shadier Dealings of the Professor

_New chapter. Not much to say today, so I'll get on with it. Let's roll._

_Discalimer: I own nothing._

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_Chapter Four: the Shadier Dealings of the Professor_

After Maes had snapped a few photographs of the portrait in the library and Roy had borrowed some of the more interesting books, they left the library and continued to the room next door- Professor Hoenheim's study.

The study was a fairly small room, and Roy imagined it could've been described as cosy once. The window was wide, with a view over the ornamental pond, and at the foot of the hill you could see Rizembul, nestled in the curve of the river. The walls were panelled golden-brown wood, a moth-eaten rug covered the floor and a large desk was opposite the window. Trisha Elric smiled warmly down at them from a photograph on the wall.

Roy pulled the chair from behind the desk and sat himself in it, sending clouds of dust in the air. Fuery sneezed.

"Bless you," Roy said mechanically, tugging open the desk drawers. They were stiff, and it took a bit of work, but finally it came open and Roy set about investigating their contents. Finally he found something of interest.

"Would you look at this," he raised an eyebrow. "A journal. Jackpot."

"A journal, huh? Hopefully we'll get an insight into who would want to kill him. Look at the most recent entry, Roy."

"If you can call seven years ago recent. Alright, here it is... _I think we shall have to leave the house and go into hiding. They know I don't plan to do what I promised. I have told Trisha and the boys. We will not bring anything more than we need, and we shall need to keep the boys hidden._"

Riza frowned. "So, he was hiding the boys..."

Maes nodded. "It sounds like he agreed to something and backed out at the last minute- look back a bit further, Roy."

Roy flipped a couple of pages and read out another entry. "_They are no longer asking politely, and have started threatening me. But what can I do? I cannot allow them to have what they want..."_

Maes wrinkled his brow. "But what did they want? Pass that here, would you?"

Roy passed him the journal, and he immediately began flipping through it, scanning each page as quickly as possible.

"Okay... here we are, this looks promising. He says- they have been asking for something, he's been saying no- next entry, they ask again, trying to pressure him- they start threatening- okay, he promises to give them what they want, but has no intention of doing so... and then there's the last entry." he frowned. "Do you know, the last entry is the only one where he openly says he has kids?"

Breda raised an eyebrow. "That's... odd."

"No kidding. And what exactly did these people want? Why wouldn't he give it to them?"

Jena sighed. "More questions we don't know the answers to, huh? This is getting more complicated every minute..."

Maes grinned. "Yeah, but who would've guessed he was dealing with a bunch of criminals? And we've finally found our motive. The Elrics were killed because Hoenheim attempted to double cross these people."

Falman nodded. "Yes... but we still don't know what it was they wanted, or why he refused to give it to them..."

"And what the hell was going on with those boys?" asked Jean.

"I think they're the key," said Riza, frowning slightly. "The Elric brothers... why would they keep their children hidden away from the world?"

"They could just be worried about _Them_, whoever _They_ are. Maybe he thinks if they're kept out of the way, they won't hurt them?"

Roy shook his head. "I don't think they were hiding them from... whoever was threatening them. If that was the case they'd have gone to the police. They were hiding these kids from _everyone._"

"Maybe they didn't go to the cops because Hoenheim had done something illegal?"

"Possible," Roy nodded. "If that was the case, he wouldn't want the police involved. But with the safety of their children at stake..."

"Desperate criminals do desperate things." shrugged Breda.

"Which do you think is stronger, parental instinct or the instinct for self-preservation?" asked Riza.

"Well, it'd have to be something pretty big to risk his kids over, yeah..." said Breda.

"Would Trisha stand for that? She went back to the house, _knowing_ there was a murderer there, to save her children. Would she put them at risk to keep her hubby out of jail?"

"Ah," Breda nodded. "Alright, good point- but before she risked her life to save them, she ran away. She only remembered them _after_ she reached Rizembul."

"Panic," reasoned Jean. "Sometimes when you're scared enough, you forget everything but getting out. It was only once her mind started working properly that she realised her children were in danger."

"But motherly instinct..."

"Just because she's a mum doesn't mean she's perfect!"

Fuery piped up. "I don't think we've enough evidence to point fingers either way," he said, "and we won't get it by standing round arguing. Besides," he added in a quieter voice, glancing around, "this place is eerie. Doesn't it feel really... really..." he floundered for the right word.

"Empty," said Jean, nodding slightly.

"It is kind of creepy." agreed Breda.

Fuery bit his lip. "...Lifeless. That's the word."

The group stood in awkward silence for a moment. Now that the thought had been voiced, it was suddenly more noticeable, and each one of them was uncomfortably aware of the great empty house around them , the abandoned bedrooms and dusty library, the unstocked kitchen and the wild, untended gardens.

Roy was the one to break the silence.

"Let's go," he said. "We'll take the journal with us. Maybe we'll figure something out later."

They left quickly, and the Elric mansion was once again empty.


	6. Who are the Elric Brothers?

_Gah, late chapter... I don't actually have an excuse. Um. Sorry?_

_Edit: Thanks to Turtle Kid for pointing out a mistake in this chapter. __  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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_

_Chapter Five: Who Are the Elric Brothers?_

Maes sighed, and dumped the journal on the coffee table.

"No, nothing. It's just vague hints- and I was right, he only mentions the boys once, in that final entry. It's as if they never existed- except for the bedrooms, the portrait, and those boys Winry Rockbell saw..."

"Speaking of Winry Rockbell, have you got that photograph? I want to know if she recognises the boys in the portrait ."

Maes raised and eyebrow. "Roy, it was seven years ago."

Roy shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

Maes shook his head, but he handed over a copy of the picture anyway. It was small, but the faces were still recognisable.

"Thanks," said Roy, taking the photograph. Maes nodded- and then he grinned.

Roy gulped.

"And speaking of photographs... just look at my little Elysia! Isn't she just so precious? She's three now, isn't she just the cutest little angel you've ever seen?"

Roy groaned loudly. "Maes..."

"Maes, we are all very much aware that your daughter is adorable. In fact, with the way you're constantly reminding us, it is rather hard to forget. Now put the photographs _away._" Riza said sternly. Maes pouted a bit, but returned the pictures to his pocket- after all, it did not do to anger Riza. Riza got _scary_ when she was angry.

Riza nodded, satisfied. "Good. Now, Roy, give me the photograph of the portrait- I'm heading out anyway to grab a book from the library, and since the Rockbells only live down the road, it's not out of my way.."

Roy nodded. "Right. Here you go, Riza."

Riza tucked the photograph into her notebook. "I'll be back in an hour or so. I'll see you then."

"See you later," the others chorused, and then turned back to the table to discuss the case.

Maes tapped the journal. "The way I see it, the biggest mystery here is those boys. I'm pretty sure that if we find out why the Elrics were keeping them hidden, we'll find out what actually happened."

"Why d'you say that?" asked Fuery. "Weren't they being hidden because the Elrics were being targeted?"

Maes shook his head. "No, I don't think so... I think there was another reason, and whatever it was, it was big. I mean, their parents obviously cared for them, at least to some extent- they had nice rooms, nice toys, nice clothes, they were included in the family portrait, and hell, Trisha even gave her life for them... but they didn't want anybody to know about them. What was the big secret? I'm pretty sure once we find that, we'll find what really happened."

Roy nodded. "I think you're right. So, what do we already know?"

"We know their names, what they looked like, we know when they died and how. We know that for whatever reason, they were kept locked away from the outside world. We know that somebody wants the world to think they never existed." listed Falman.

Roy nodded. "And what don't we know?"

"We don't know why they were kept hidden, we don't know what their personalities were like, we don't know... well, let's just say we don't know much at all."

Maes sighed. "Got that right. So... how can we find out more about them, do you think?"

Kain Fuery piped up. "I think we should search the house again, and we should talk to anybody who might have met them... perhaps some of the servants who worked there?"

"Good idea," said Breda, "But how are we supposed to find one of the servants?"

"We'll put an ad in the paper. Sooner or later, we'll get somebody. We just ask for any information relating to Edward and Alphonse Elric."

Roy smiled. "That might actually get us some real information- nice work, Kain. But until then, we'll go round the village again. Last time wasn't much of a success, but we've got nothing else to do... and somebody must've seen them- right?"

* * *

They returned to the hotel three hours later, and collapsed onto the couch in the lobby.

"I can't believe nobody saw them! How can two kids live somewhere for... how old were they? Ah, forget it. How can two kids live somewhere for who knows how long and not be seen by a single person?"

"Except Winry Rockbell. Which reminds me- Riza?"

Riza, who had been sat in the lobby waiting for them, looked up. "Yes?"

"What did Winry think of that picture?"

"She's pretty sure that's who she saw- the boy we think is Edward was definitely there, she says, but she's not so sure about the other one. She doesn't really remember it that clearly."."

"Well, I didn't really expect her to remember it well. She was only ten." he sighed. "But I can't believe we haven't found a single lead on the Elric brothers! They certainly knew how to keep a secret-there's nothing in the library, and the only person who's actually seen them is a teenage girl, and that just tells us how they died!" Roy groaned.

"Actually, the guy who runs the shop says he was delivering something once and thought he saw two kids in the gardens, but they disappeared when he shouted to them." Jean said thoughtfully. "But I don't suppose that does us much good."

Maes perked up. "It's something. What if those boys were the Elric brothers?"

Roy frowned. "What of it? It doesn't tell us much."

Maes sighed. "If they _were_ the Elric brothers, then it tells us that they weren't locked up, and they knew they weren't supposed to be seen."

"How so?" asked Jean.

"They were in the garden, weren't they? If they were locked away, would they have been outside? And if they knew they were supposed to be hidden, then when they realised they'd been spotted, of course they would've run inside!" Maes explained.

Roy shook his head. "That's pretty shaky evidence if you ask me, but I suppose you're right- it is _something,_ at least. Assuming it wasn't just a couple of village kids messing around."

"You know, discussing the Elric brothers really isn't getting us anywhere." said Breda. "Maybe we should investigate one of the other family members? I mean, obviously the Elric brothers are important, but until we've got a lead on them, there's no point. Maybe we should try and find out a bit more about Trisha?"

Roy looked thoughtful. "I think the murders have more to do with Hoenheim Elric than his wife, but it couldn't hurt to look into it."

"True enough. So, are we agreed?"

"Yup. We'll look up Trisha Elric tomorrow."

Roy smiled- and then he yawned. "Well, that's great... Now, I don't know about you lot, but I'm tired. See you in the morning."


	7. The Professor's Wife

_I know, I know. This chapter is abysmally late. I'm sorry! I've been pretty sick lately, but that's no excuse, because I had plenty of time to get the chapter sorted before I got sick and I didn't. I could write you a whole list of reasons why this is so late- but I'm quite sure you're not interested, so I'll just say that I am really, really sorry. I hope you all had a great christmas and new year!_

_I own nothing._

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_Chapter Six: the Professor's Wife_

"So," Roy began. "Trisha Elric."

"What we know so far isn't really that useful," frowned Riza. "Her maiden name was Douglas, known family... her parents and a twin sister. According to the locals, she was a friendly and very kind woman, never snobbish and always very generous."

"Not very relevant." sighed Maes.

Riza shook her head. "I'm afraid not. However... there is the night she died."

"Hm?"

"That night was the first time anybody had ever heard of the Elric brothers. Trisha Elric came running into the village begging for help, and then all of she 'Pulled away from Dr. Rockbell and ran up to mansion again, calling out for her boys.'" Riza quoted in a clipped, professional tone.

Roy frowned. "And what happened next?"

"The villagers, though confused, put aside their worries and went to help, but by the time they got there, Trisha was already with her murderer, who was hidden in the shadows. She asked the killer not to harm her boys and then... she was shot."

"Ah," said Maes. "Ah. And... that was the first time anybody had ever heard of the Elric brothers? You're sure?"

"Yes. They'd thought that the Elrics were childless, up until then."

Maes nodded. "I see... there's something I've been wondering. When did the Elrics first arrive in Rizembul?"

"They moved in about five years before they died. Nobody knows where they lived beforehand." Havoc informed him, chewing idly on the end of his unlit cigarette. "Why?"

"I was just wondering, really... how old would the boys have been then, do you think?"

Falman shrugged. "Maybe four, five years old?" he offered. "Why?"

"I want to know if they've been hidden all their lives, or just since they moved here," said Maes. "Do we know where they lived before?"

"We can find out," said Fuery. "I mean, Elric isn't a common name... and there can't be that many people who're as rich as they were."

Roy nodded. "Good point... Maes? You're usually the one who finds out this sort of thing. Any ideas?"

"I've got a friend in Central who could snoop around for us." said Maes. "I'll give him a ring, ask him to look it up. He should be able to get back to us in a few hours' time... his family is pretty influential. Unless it's classified or something, he'll be able to find out."

"And if it _is_ classified?" asked Roy, raising an eyebrow.

Maes grinned. "Oh, I have my ways."

* * *

The next few hours were spent fruitlessly trawling the depths of Rizembul library in search of anything they might have missed the last time they were here. Roy was quickly getting frustrated with the lack of information- but then Maes's friend phoned back.

"Right. Right- thanks, Alex, that's great. Oh. Really? That's, um, really interesting, Alex. Generations, huh? Wow. Fascinating. No, that's okay Alex, I'll call you if I need anything else..."

Roy snickered. For once, Maes was having to listen to someone rant about their family, and as far as Roy was concerned it served him right. Honestly, he'd learnt more about Elysia than he had about the Elrics!

Maes finally managed to say goodbye to his friend, and put the phone down with a sigh.

"Very proud of his family?" asked Roy sweetly.

Maes groaned and nodded.

"Now you know how we feel." he smirked. Maes smacked him over the head.

"Settle down, boys," Riza said, not looking up from her book. "Maes- did your friend find anything?"

Maes brightened up. "Quite a bit, actually- where's Jean and Breda? Shouldn't they be here?"

Fuery shrugged. "I think they got bored and decided to take a break. We can fill them in when they get back- what did he tell you?"

"Right. Well, according to Alex, there are records of some Elrics living in a place called Rush Valley, and they're our Elrics all right. A man named Hoenheim, his wife Trisha- and two sons, Edward and Alphonse Elric, aged five and four respectively."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "The kids weren't hidden- wait. Rush Valley? Isn't that the automail town?"

Maes nodded. "That's the place. And the kids definitely weren't hidden- apparently they were pretty famous. There was even an article abut them in the local paper once- they were prodigies."

Roy frowned. "Were they... unusual, at all? I mean, apart from the kids being prodigies. No criminal connections, no scandals... anything?"

Maes shook his head. "Not at all."

"What about the money?" asked Falman suddenly.

"The money?" Roy asked.

Fuery nodded. "That's a good point... the Elrics were very rich, what about the money? Where did they get it from?"

"They inherited it," said Maes. "Hoenheim's family were rather well off."

Roy nodded, although he didn't think that where the Elrics had got the money was particularly relevant. Although he supposed it could be... people did awful things for money.

"Why do you think they left?" he asked. Maes shrugged.

"I'm guessing something happened to the boys, something severe enough to make them want to hide them. Can't have been too severe though- he was a smart guy, he'd have changed their names or something if he thought it was that bad. Perhaps something that he thought might _become_ a danger, if it wasn't dealt with, and he thought by hiding them he could keep them safe..." he trailed off.

There was a moment of speculative quiet as each of them immersed themselves in their thoughts.

"It didn't work." Jean broke the silence. "So does this mean we're going to Rush Valley?"

Maes shook his head. "No. We'll stay here- this is the scene of the crime, after all- but I will see if I can get someone to snoop around Rush Valley for me. If they find anything of interest, we'll go, but there's no point if there's nothing there."

"Fair enough... at least we've made _some_ progress. Where do we go from here?" asked Roy.

"I think we should go back to the mansion," said Fuery. "After all, it's a big place, so we could easily have missed something the first time around..."

Mae nodded. "I agree- hopefully we'll find a few clues about that journal. It was practically in code... but all codes have a cipher, and I'm willing to put money on it being in that mansion."

"Okay then," said Roy, "The mansion it is- tomorrow. For now, let's just go back to the hotel."


	8. Hoeheim's Journal

_It actually feels kind of weird to go back to daily updates. Hm. _

_I own nothing._

_

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_Chapter Seven: Hoenheim's Journal_

Once they arrived at the mansion, they split up: Maes went to Hoenheim's study to search for anything they might have missed the first time around, Roy went to the library for the same, Jean, Riza and Kain were looking at the nursery and the Elric brothers' rooms, and finally, Vato and Heymans were snooping around the rocks the Elric brothers had fallen from- not a task Maes envied them. Murder scenes were creepy at the best of times, but when _kids_ were involved... it made everything that much worse.

Maes explored the room carefully; running his fingers along the joints in the wood-panelled walls in search of some secret safe, lifting the expensive rug, checking behind pictures and the large mirror that hung behind the desk- all to no avail. He examined the desk carefully for hidden drawers, and then stomped on each floorboard, listening for a hollow _thump_-

-There!

It was right in the corner, the hinges carefully disguised to blend into the wall. Maes tried to pry it loose, but further inspection revealed a keyhole hidden in the crack between two floorboards- a problem. They could always bring out the tools and break into it, but he didn't want to risk damaging what was inside or activating a trap of some kind, and the keyhole was awkwardly placed, making picking the lock difficult- it seemed if he wanted to get in, he'd need a key. He frowned.

"If I were the professor, where would I keep my keys?" he wondered aloud. "Somewhere close, but hidden... if he carried them with him, then there's no hope, it'll have to be broken into- but if he hid it somewhere in here..."

He searched the study again, this time searching for nooks and crannies where a set of keys could easily be hidden. There were plenty of hiding places in the carved wood on the walls, but none of them yielded anything but dust, so he moved on to the next most likely hiding place- the desk. He opened each drawer, checked every compartment- but found nothing. Frustrated, he fell back into the professor's chair to think.

_Wait a second. The chair!_

He stood and quickly patted down the chair- and gave a crow of triumph as he felt a distinctively key-like lump in one of the cushions. He fished in his coat for a moment, and quickly found a small pocketknife; from there it was the work of a moment to slit the fabric open, sending feathers everywhere-

-and there, wrapped in the folds of the ruined pillowcase, was a ring of keys. Maes smirked.

"Gotcha."

The hiding place was well-made: despite years of disuse, it opened easily, with barely a creak, to reveal a shallow compartment, only just large enough to fit its contents- a jewellery box, a few books and a small pile of currency from various different countries. Maes grinned.

One of those books looked awfully similar to the journal...

But first things first. Ignoring the currency, he carefully lifted out the jewellery box, setting it on the floor before him and lifting the lid. With a soft whirring noise, it began to play, a soft melody, a little out of tune from neglect but still recognisable: a lullaby.

_It must have sentimental value,_ he thought as the clockwork ran down. _No use to us._

He shut the lid and set it to one side, and with a quiver of anticipation, moved onto the journal, hoping against hope that they had _finally_ found a real clue. He flipped it open and skimmed over a page quickly, and grinned.

_Still a little cryptic, but this is much better, _he thought. _Maybe now we'll finally make some progress._

_

* * *

_

Maes had gathered everyone in the Elric's parlour.

"Keys," he announced, grinning. "One of them opens a secret compartment in the professor's study, and I'll bet there's a few other locked doors that we'll be able to open now. But that's not the best part," he paused dramatically.

"Just get on with it, Maes." said Roy irritably.

"I found Hoenheim's _real_ journal." he said, triumphantly.

"You did?" asked Fuery, instantly interested. "Anything about the Elric brothers?"

"I haven't had a chance to take a proper look, but I think this one'll be a lot less coded than the first... what did you guys find?"

Heymans grimaced. "It doesn't look good," he said. "Anybody messing about on those rocks would be in serious trouble. They're slippery, steep, and there's nothing but more rocks and the river below them. Maybe if you tried climbing down, slowly, with a lot of equipment, you'd be okay... _maybe._ Otherwise? Not a chance."

"Anything useful up there at all? A dropped gun or something the police missed? I know it's been seven years, but there could still be something..."

"If there was, we didn't find it," said Vato. "Besides, it wouldn't be any use after so long."

"I suppose not," sighed Roy. "Riza, Kain, Jean, did you guys find anything?"

"Well... there was something weird about the nursery. Half the toys were still in their boxes... it's... it's like somebody had prepared a room for kids, but the kids never actually used it." said Kain. "But other than that, it was pretty normal."

"Although, considering how much these people were hiding, it's possible this is just another cover," said Jean. "But what for, I don't know." he shrugged.

"I don't know what it's hiding," said Riza, thoughtfully, "But I think I know who it was supposed to be hiding from. What about the servants?"

Maes nodded absently. "Possibly..." he flipped through the journal. "This is weird."

"What?" asked Roy.

"Still no mention of the Elric brothers," said Maes, a frown on his face. "I was right, it is a lot less coded- but he's _still_ keeping secrets. He refers to the people who were threatening him as 'The Sins'- I'll ask around and see if I can find anything on that- but... he still won't talk about his kids. There's not a single written record- and yet there's that portrait, hung up for all to see. What do you think of that?"

Riza frowned. "Perhaps he was afraid the Sins would find his journal?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, if they did kill the Elrics, then they're hardly above breaking and entering. There are no written records because he didn't want anybody knowing anything about them. The portrait is only a picture, it tells us nothing about them but what they looked like, and chances are the Sins already knew that. He was scared something would happen to them, and I suppose he thought that if nobody knew anything about them, nobody could use it against them."

Maes nodded, slowly. "Ye-es." he agreed. "That makes sense... nice, Riza." he grinned. "And we know what we're researching next, too- the Sins."

Roy smiled. "It seems like we're finally getting somewhere with this case," he said. "Let's go. We might as well call it a day."

Shortly afterwards, they left the mansion and began the walk back to Rizembul, focusing on the mystery they were only just beginning to unravel.


	9. Hunting Sins

_Well, well, well. Look who's come crawling back, huh? Yeah, I suck._

_I'm sorry. There's not much else I can say, but.. I'm sorry. I should've had this out months ago, but I didn't. I must've written this chapter a hundred times over and scrapped it, because I couldn't seem to get it right... writer's block is a real pain. _

_Still, this story is now officially back on track, and you can expect frequent updates from now on. Thank you for sticking with me._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, as always._

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Hunting Sins**

"Here we go," Maes dumped a stack of files on the table. "Police reports."

"Police reports?" asked Roy, raising an eyebrow. "You mean you've found something already?"

Maes grinned. "It wasn't that hard, really. I just mentioned 'The Sins' and I got a whole boxful of info. It seems they're a fairly infamous gang... or at least, they _were._ They're in Briggs High Security Prison at the moment, all eight of them."

"Eight?" Riza's brow furrowed. "So they aren't following a Seven Deadly Sins theme?"

"Oh, they are," said Maes. "The eighth is their leader, a woman named Dante Bolton."

"Right," said Roy, reaching for a folder and beginning to flip through. "Think they're connected then?"

"Of course I do," said Hughes, frowning momentarily. "Do you think I'd have brought it if I didn't think it was relevant? The Sins, before they got caught, were famous for making numerous attacks on places like laboratories and universities- especially places that researched alchemy." Maes grinned at them. "Anyone care to guess what Hoenheim was studying before his death?"

"Alchemy," breathed Roy. "Then... you said the Sins were in jail?"

Maes smirked. "I've already talked to the police about it. We've got permission to question them regarding the case. We can't be entirely sure it was them, of course... but I'm pretty sure I'm right."

"Maes, you _genius_," Roy grinned.

"I try," said Maes, affecting modesty- but he became serious again almost immediately. "There's something you should have a look at... look at their mug shots. The blue folder."

Roy reached for the indicated folder and flipped through to the photographs. "What about them? Dante Bolton, her son... _Envy?_"

Maes shrugged. "She's kind of loopy. She's trying to bring about a new age of alchemists- compared to that, naming her kid Envy is positively sane. That's not it, anyway- keep looking."

"Alright... King 'Pride' Bradley, Belle 'Lust' Marlowe, Jordan 'Gluttony' Richards, Jack 'Greed' Campbell... Maes, what's the big deal?"

"Just keep looking."

"Fine. Thomas 'Wrath' Curtis and..." he broke off.

There was a long moment of silence as he stared at the final Sin's photograph.

"_Trisha?_"

Maes shook his head. "No; Juliet. Trisha's sister."

Roy frowned as he processed this. "Her sister? But... if this _is_ the gang that killed her..."

Maes nodded grimly. "Yeah. I'm not completely certain this is the right gang yet, but it's looking likely."

"But if this _is_ the gang- why on earth would Juliet work with them, if they- why? Maes?"

He grimaced. "I asked the same question... I thought if anyone would know, their mother would, so I rang Mrs Douglas. It seems Juliet hated Trisha with a passion because of an incident in their teenage years."

"What could Trisha possibly have done?" asked Riza, a frown marring her features.

Maes frowned. "She had children."

He paused for a moment before explaining. "Mrs Douglas said... that when they were both seventeen, they were involved in an accident. Now, Trisha got away with only a few superficial injuries, but Juliet... was another story. She received a nasty wound to her abdomen, and the damage was permanent- she can't have kids."

Riza bit her lip. "_Oh_."

"Yeah." Maes sighed. "When Trisha got pregnant, Juliet was furious, and not long after, she disappeared for good. Mrs Douglas saw neither hide nor hair of hair until the police told her that her daughter was a gang member."

"Ouch." Havoc winced.

Maes nodded. "It's interesting, though..."

Roy looked up. "Hm?"

"Think about it."

Roy's brow furrowed for a moment- and then the penny dropped. "Trisha's mother knew about the Elric brothers!"

"That's one thing." said Maes. "Unfortunately, she won't be much help- she says that she didn't see much of them. But that's not what I was talking about..."

Roy frowned. "Juliet."

"Exactly." Maes nodded. "If this _is_ the gang, then it would explain why they attacked the Elrics- their usual targets are universities or labs, not a professor and his family in their own home. If it was Juliet..." he trailed off meaningfully.

"Revenge?" asked Kain. "Do you think she'd go that far?"

"I don't know," sighed Maes. "But the way things are looking at the moment..." he sighed.

"It's not a pretty picture." Roy sighed. "What about the other gang members, though? Anything else of note?"

"From the police report..." Riza skimmed through a document for a moment. "It seems they were all in it for different reasons; Dante, Envy and Pride are the only ones who really believed the whole alchemy spiel. The police think the others were all in for some form of personal gain, with the possible exception of Thomas Curtis- Wrath- who was following in his adoptive mother's footsteps." she looked up, a frown on her face. "His adoptive mother is Juliet Douglas."

Jean raised his eyebrows. "Is she now?"

Breda leaned over Riza's shoulder, brow furrowed. "Huh... well I suppose it makes sense. She got so upset about not being able to have kids that she left her family, so she must've wanted to be a mother pretty badly..."

"How old is he?"

Riza's frown deepened. "He's sixteen." she muttered. "That means he'd have only been nine when the Elric murders... that's so _young._"

Roy was frowning too. "You don't think he was there that night, do you?"

Maes frowned. "I don't know," he said. "But we'll find out. I'll call Olivia- she runs Briggs- and see if she can't arrange for a meeting sooner. I have a lot of questions to be answered, and I've got a feeling that the Sins will be able to answer them."

"Olivia? Briggs?" Roy's brow furrowed. "Why does that sound..." he stopped mid-sentence, and paled. "Oh no."

"Oh yes," Maes grinned. "The Ice Queen herself. Of course, it'll be a while before we can see them- security and all- a couple of weeks at least. Ooh, I bet you're looking forward to it, Roy!"

He got nothing but a glare in response.


	10. Proof of Existence

_Aaaand it's chapter nine! Also, does anybody else remember Karin? Or is it just me?_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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_

**Chapter Nine: Proof of Existence**

Roy muttered something incoherent as the phone rang, blinking and pulling himself out of the bed. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he reached over to the phone and lifted it to his ear.

"Roy Mustang speaking," he said, trying to sound as professional as possible while yawning.

"Mr Mustang, sir, there's somebody to see you at the front desk. A lady named, ah, Karin James?"

Roy's brow furrowed. "I don't know her. Did she say why she was here?"

Roy heard a hand placed over the phone, and then muffled chatter. After a moment, the receptionist was back on the line.

"She says she wants to talk to you about the Elrics."

"I'll see her." Roy said immediately. He put the phone down and grinned, turning to his barely awake roommate.

"Jean, we've got a lead. Wake the others up and meet me in the lobby."

* * *

Karin was a middle-aged woman, old before her time, with dark hair held back in a pretty blue rose clip. Roy greeted her with a handshake, trying to hide the fact that he was still half asleep.

"I heard that you wanted to know about the Elric brothers, to try and solve the murders... I can tell you this: they did exist."

Roy nodded. "How do you know?"

"I was their nurse when they were small. Here," she handed him a large book bound in faded blue fabric. "These are the only photographs left."

Roy flipped open the album and stared down at the page for a second. Two pairs of eyes looked back, and in their scrutiny he couldn't help but feel mildly disconcerted.

He turned back to Karin. "The only photographs left? What happened to the others?"

"They were burnt," she said. "Just before they moved here. I worked for them when they lived in Rush Valley, too... I don't know what happened. One day, the Professor came home in a panic. HE burnt all of his paperwork, all of the photographs- even the boys' birth certificates- and then they began packing up their things. He asked me to come with them, and, well, I had nowhere else to go, so I agreed." she broke off for a moment, glancing down at the open photo album in Roy's lap.

"He told me to act as though the Elric brothers never existed. Nobody was to know. The boys were happy enough with the arrangement- spending all their time in the library, only going out when there was nobody else around- but as far as everyone else was concerned, Edward and Alphonse Elric didn't exist. They even hid them from the other servants; only a handful of us knew... only those of us who had moved with them from Rush Valley."

Riza frowned. "Do you know why he hid them like that?"

Karin shook her head. "I'm afraid I have no idea."

"No matter, then. Can you tell us who else knew about the boys?"

Karin looked thoughtful. "The head butler... Majihal... but he's dead." she said, a grief-filled look crossing her face for a second. Roy raised an eyebrow. _I'm willing to bet there's some history there,_ he thought, _but that's probably not relevant. Probably._

"Maria Ross and Denny Broche; Maria cleaned their rooms, and Denny brought their meals to the library for them... oh, the library! The librarian was a woman named Sciezka Johnson, I'm sure she'd know, and then there was Tim Marcoh, he was their tutor. None of the others would've known, I don't think."

Riza nodded, scribbling down the names in a notepad she'd fished out of her jacket pocket. "And how many servants were employed in the mansion altogether?"

"Ah... let me see, there were ten maids in all... the cook, the butler, the librarian, the gardener... I would say about twenty, maybe twenty-five in all. Not very many for such a large house..."

"On the night they... on the night they died, were you at the mansion?"

She shook her head. "None of us were. It was not uncommon for Professor Elric to give us all a few days' leave now and then, so I thought nothing of it... but..."

"It's okay. There's no need to speak about it if it upsets you." said Riza gently. If she hadn't been there, it was unlikely to be of any importance anyway.

Karin nodded, and glanced up at the lobby clock.

"I'm sorry, but I really ought to be getting back to work. I've put my number in the front of the album if you have any other questions." she smiled weakly.

"Thank you very much, Karin. We really appreciate your help." The group bid her goodbye, and then, as one, they turned to the album.

The Elric brothers were sat next to each other in one of the huge armchairs they'd seen in the library, a book open on their laps; captured looking up at the camera with a deer-in-the-headlights expression.

"Well, I think we've officially answered 'did they exist?'" said Riza, drily.

Maes nodded. "Now all that's left is; 'why did someone try to make it look like they didn't?'"

* * *

A few days had passed since Karin's visit, and since then they had fallen into a state of ennui. Roy had retreated to a small local café to look over their findings when he was brought out of his concentration by Maes.

"Olivia called. She says it'll be a couple of weeks before we can see them. It's a maximum security prison, after all, and we're not friends or relatives, so it's a bit tricky... technically we shouldn't be allowed to see them at all, you know, but Olivia's the one asking for us, and not many people say no to Olivia."

Roy shivered. "No, they certainly don't." he muttered. "A couple of weeks, huh?"

Maes nodded. "Yeah. But on the bright side, it'll give us some time to gather more information... speaking of which, we've found the librarian, Sciezka. She seems pretty eager to help out."

"That's great. So, we'll be seeing her sometime soon?"

"Yep, in... oh. In about ten minutes, actually."

Roy blinked with surprise. "Ten mi-?"

Maes cut him off. "Yup, so if we want to make it to the station in time, we should get going!"

* * *

The journey to the train station was short but unpleasant, as the weather took a sudden turn for the worse and chose to rain heavily. Roy was only too happy to accept the ticket-seller's offer to sit in the ticket booth for a while. The small space may have been cramped, but at least it was dry...

Still, they did not have long to wait. The train arrived barely minutes after they did, and it was easy to locate Sciezka in the sparse crowd.

"Mr Hughes- we spoke on the phone? I'm Sciezka Johnson. It's a pleasure to meet you." she shuffled the books she was carrying from one arm to the other, and extended a hand for him to shake.

"Thank you for coming- would you like me to take those for you? These are my colleagues- Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Kain Fuery, Jean Havoc, Vato Falman and Heymans Breda. Ah, shall we move this to somewhere a little less wet?"

They retreated into the warmth of the café Roy had so recently occupied, gladly shedding their wet coats and ordering hot drinks all around. Once seated, Sciezka gave them a rather frazzled smile.

"I'm sorry for coming at such short notice, but today's the only time off I'll be able to get for a little while, it's so busy lately - you're actually quite lucky you called this morning, I don't know when I'd have been able to make it otherwise."

"Not a problem at all. In fact, the sooner the better... so, you were a librarian at the mansion?"

Sciezka nodded. "Oh, yes. It was a wonderful library, you know, but a rather odd family... oh, they were very nice, of course," she added hastily. "A lovely couple, and the children were very well behaved, not to mention bright- but odd all the same."

"How so, Sciezka?" asked Roy.

She pushed her glasses up her nose before she spoke, a thoughtful frown creasing her brow.

"It was only since they moved here that things became strange... I moved with them from Rush Valley, you see, and back then there was nothing too much out of the ordinary; but one day the professor came home in a real tizzy. He burnt a lot of his things and packed everything else, and then they cleared out of there like they couldn't leave it behind quick enough."

She paused for a moment, biting her lip. "When we arrived here, he called me into his study and told me in a very _grave_ tone that it was of the utmost importance that the boys be kept secret from everyone else. It was to be as if they didn't exist. Not long after that, the boys started studying more and more, and soon I found myself getting kicked out of the library for hours at a time so that they could do so in private."

Maes frowned. "Do you have any idea why they left Rush Valley? Or what the boys were studying?"

"Not at all," said Sciezka with a shake of her head. "But... well, but there were a great many alchemy books in that library, Mr Hughes. Books I've never seen anywhere else... I don't think I've ever seen a library quite like that one, and I don't think I ever will again, either."

"It is impressive," Maes agreed. "Did you keep in contact with any of the other employees- specifically, the ones from Rush Valley? We haven't been able to track them down..."

"Oh, yes," said Sciezka readily. "Dr Marcoh. Actually, he lives in Lior too... I'm sure he'd be happy to help you, and I'm sure he'd know more than I. He was the boys' tutor; here, let me give you his phone number."

She rummaged through her bag for a second in search of a notebook and pencil- once found, she scribbled down the number and passed the ripped-out page to Maes. "There," she smiled. "He's retired now, so I'm sure he'll have no problems finding time to speak to you. Do you need anything else?"

Roy looked thoughtful for a moment, and then shook his head. "No thank you, Sciezka, not at this time... is it okay if we call you, though, if we have any other questions?"

"Oh, of course!" answered Sciezka. "I've always wanted to know what happened... if there's anything I can do to help, please just ask."

"We will." Maes assured her. "Thank you very much for your time, Sciezka."


	11. Hidden Children

_I'm actually quite glad I went back to daily updates. Writing a chapter a day is a little challenging, but it's good practice and it's fun. _

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Hidden Children**

"Excuse me, are you Doctor Marcoh?"

The man turned around. "I am." he nodded. "I'm assuming you're Roy Mustang?"

Roy nodded. "That would be me. My colleagues are waiting for us a café near here, Doctor."

"Please, just call me Tim. Only my students call me Doctor." he smiled. "Please, lead the way."

They arrived at the café in good time, and once introductions were made, they went straight to business.

"The Elric boys, hm? Bright boys. Very, very bright boys... I would even go so far as to call them geniuses. As I recall, they were both very good at science and maths, far beyond what I would normally expect of boys that age. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had grown up to be even smarter than their father, but..." he trailed off. "..._Well_. It's such a shame- two kind, intelligent young children _murdered_, and goodness knows why."

"It's tragic." Maes agreed, eyes serious. "Which is exactly why we plan to find out who is responsible. I assure you that we will find justice for the Elric family, Tim."

Roy gave his friend a concerned look. He knew Maes hated cases with children, and the constant focus on the Elric brothers was bound to be getting to him... they would have to have a chat later, maybe a drink or two. Rizembul had five pubs; surely one of them had to serve good beer.

"Thank you." Tim gave him a tired smile. "Now... what was I saying? Ah, now I remember. There was something interesting... even though I was their tutor, the boys did a lot of private study that I was never allowed to interfere with. I don't know what it was about, but I'm quite certain that whatever it was must have been related to science for Edward to be so very keen on it. Whatever it was, I know that they used to spend several hours a day either in the library or in the study."

"The study? Didn't they bother the Professor?" asked Riza.

Tim looked surprised for a moment. "Oh, of course you wouldn't know. I'm sorry, I don't know why I assumed... there was a little storage room that the boys used to call their study. Interestingly enough, nobody else was allowed in there- not even their parents, which I must admit I found a little odd. It is one thing to encourage independent study, but it seemed a little strange that the boys should be left to learn by themselves, especially when they were so young."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "That is a little strange... did anyone find a room like that at the mansion? I don't recall seeing anything..."

"No, you wouldn't have done," said Tim before they could answer. "You see, there was a maid who went in there once, and after that, they dismissed us all from the house for a while. When we came back, it was just a storage room. The boys went somewhere else to study after that, and I have no idea where."

"What happened to the maid?" asked Kain.

"She was fired," answered Tim. "I don't know what she saw, but I remember her name... and trust me, she won't be too hard to find. She was on the news last year; a suspect in the Phantom Thief case in Aquroya. They never managed to prove it, I am quite sure she was guilty... her name was Clara Taylor."

"I remember that," Breda nodded. "Wasn't she a nun or something? I remember the newspapers were making a big deal about it."

"I believe she was," nodded Tim. "She was a teacher before she worked at the mansion, and when she left I seem to recall her saying something about becoming a nurse. It wouldn't surprise me at all if she flitted about from job to job... she had a habit of snooping where she shouldn't, and once told me she could never hold down a career for very long."

"Did you know her well?" asked Roy.

"Not particularly, but she was a talkative woman for the most part, and as she tended to work at the same time as I did, so we often ended up taking our breaks at the same time, too. I'm sure she'd only be too happy to help you, she always was fond of the boys; Alphonse in particular."

"Speaking of the boys, could you tell us a little more about them? As their tutor, I'm sure you knew them quite well..."

"Yes, of course." Tim shut his eyes for a moment, deep in thought. "Edward was the elder, and always very protective of his brother... a stubborn, determined child, with a voracious appetite for knowledge once you caught his interest. He was a very sweet boy, really, and very loyal... although he could get quite het up about little things, and he was often quite rash. He was often the one to lead his brother into trouble, although he got them out of it just as frequently, and all in all, he was a good lad."

"And Alphonse?"

"I daresay I have never met a kinder or sweeter child than Alphonse," said Tim fondly. "He was very compassionate. He would often bring home small animals, particularly cats; although he was never allowed to keep them- Mrs Elric was allergic. He was a hard worker: whereas Edward could be lazy when it came to things he found boring, Alphonse would always soldier on... and he was a very down to earth boy. He was always tagging around behind his brother, trying to make sure he didn't get too out of hand, which often lead to me wondering which of them was really the oldest... Poor Edward. He always got quite upset whenever someone disputed his claim to the title 'big brother'. He really was quite proud of that."

Maes smiled sadly. "They sound like wonderful kids."

"They were." Tim nodded. "Forgive me, but do you have children? You have the look of a family man."

"As a matter of fact-"

Roy groaned. Maes's eyes shone, and out came the photographs.

"Maes, I'm not sure now is the time..." Roy sighed.

Tim took one of the photos and smiled. "What a lovely little girl you have, Mr Hughes. You have every right to be proud of her."

"Now you've done it." muttered Roy. Maes, on the other hand, was delighted, and began to inform all and sundry of just how glorious his little angel was. It did not take long for Riza to decide that enough was enough, though, and after a pointed cough the photographs were reluctantly returned to his pocket. Tim looked on with amusement.

"Sorry about that..." Jean smiled ruefully around his unlit cigarette.

"Not at all," said Tim, with a shake of his head. "No, I don't mind at all. Did you have any other questions?"

"Not at the moment," Roy said. "We'll give you a call if we do... if that's alright?"

"Of course." Tim nodded. "Well, I bid you goodbye for today, then. It was a pleasure to meet you all, and I thank you... I was beginning to lose hope that the culprits would ever be caught."

"They will. I promise you that."


	12. The Phantom Thief

_Just thought I'd say thank you to everyone who reviewed, if I haven't done so yet. Seriously. Reviews make me feel special! Just a warning, tomorrow's update MIGHT be delayed a tad... I'm helping out with an event in the village, so I might not be able to get a chapter done as quickly as I usually would. Sorry about that... uh, don't worry though. I'm not going to go off and leave you for months on end again- promise!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Phantom Thief**

Tim Marcoh was right; it was not at all difficult to track down Clara Taylor. Since the palaver over Psiren, she had not stayed out of the spotlight: in fact, she had become a reporter, and when they contacted her she was quite willing to lend herself to the investigation. She had assured them that she would be in Rizembul on Saturday evening at six, and so they were once more at the train station, awaiting her arrival- but despite the lack of hustle and bustle at the station, she found them before they found her.

"Hello, handsome." Clara grinned. "Would I be correct in assuming that you are Roy Mustang?"

Roy smirked, but a warning look from Riza quickly restored his neutral expression. Havoc snickered.

"Hello, Miss Taylor. It's a pleasure to meet you." Roy said in a professional tone, wary of Riza's wrath. Havoc began to cough in his efforts to cover his laughter, and Roy sent him a glare.

"Oh, please, call me Clara. I don't mind at all..." she smiled.

Riza cut in before Roy could speak. "Thank you very much for coming, Clara," she said. "We appreciate your help."

"Oh, no problem." Clara turned her smile on Riza, but then her demeanor turned serious. "Glad to lend a hand... What happened to that family was awful." There was a moment's pause before she asked, "So, what did you want to know?"

"Well, first of all, did you work for the Elrics in Rush Valley?" asked Riza.

"No," she replied. "I started working here a few months after they moved. And before you ask, no, I wasn't told about the boys... I met them in the garden once, and was immediately sworn to secrecy. They seemed quite upset at having been caught."

"So... the boys definitely knew they were supposed to be in hiding. Do you have any idea why, Clara?"

"Ye-es." she said after a brief moment. "I mean I don't know for sure, but... Do you know about the study incident?"

"The study incident? Do you mean the boys' study? Tim Marcoh told us that you'd seen it, yes."

Clara sighed. "Well, it has to do with that... I'm afraid I didn't see much of it, but there were... circles. No, that's not right- what do they call them? Arrays!"

The group started. "Arrays? As in alchemy arrays? You're sure?" asked Maes.

"Yes," Clara nodded. "Definitely. Arrays, and lots of old books... before I could see anything else, though, Ed caught sight of me. A few days later, the Prof called me into his study and told me that I had snooped where I ought not have, and as such, I was fired. 'Let go,' he called it, but I know when I'm fired... he asked me to keep what I saw secret, too, and I did- whatever was going on in there was definitely not normal, and I didn't want to risk getting those kids into hot water." she said.

"Alchemy..." muttered Roy. "It's got to be. But how on earth...?" he trailed off.

"I couldn't help you there," said Clara with a shrug. "But alchemy or not... that's got to be the reason Ed and Al were kept hidden away like that. I can't think of any thing else- they were both good kids, smart kids. Kids any parent would've been proud of, and the Prof and Trisha were definitely proud of them. They loved them, and the only reason they would've ever kept them locked away from the world like that would be if they were in danger."

Maes nodded. "I'm sure."

Clara smiled. "I'm glad I found them that day," she said softly. "Even if I did end up in trouble for it; and I'm glad I snooped around their study too if it'll help you catch their killer... which brings me to my next point," she gave them a conspirational smile. "You want to have a look at that study?"

"Thanks for the offer, but it was all-"

"No," she interrupted. "I don't mean the room where the study used to be. I mean the study. I know where they moved it... just a few days before they fired me, actually."

"Wha- you know where they moved it? How?"

Clara just smiled. "A woman has her ways."

Riza raised an eyebrow at that. Roy decided to let it go for now, and pressed on; "Where is it?"

"Well," Clara grinned. "Have you found the cellar yet?"

"There's a cellar?"

* * *

The Elric family cellar was accessed via a trapdoor beneath the dining room carpet, and once inside, the door to the Elric brothers' study was hidden behind a fake plywood wall- a surprising amount of paranoia for a room belonging to a pair of kids.

_Of course,_ thought Roy, _it's not paranoia if they really __**are**__ out to get you..._ w_hich, considering what's happened, I think it's safe to say they were._

"How exactly do you know about this again, Clara?"

"A woman has her ways." Clara repeated. "But since it's you asking... I have an odd habit of overhearing conversations, and it just so _happens_ that I overheard the boys moving their things out here before I left and- purely by accident, of course- I followed them."

Roy raised an eyebrow. _Suddenly, I can see how she ended up a suspect in the Phantom Thief case._

"I see." he said. "I don't suppose you just _happen_ to have the key, then?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, love, but no."

"Well, I suppose we could always break in, but we'd have to get tools..." he said reluctantly- and then he was hit by an epiphany.

_The keys I found stitched in the Professor's cushion!_

"I think _we_ might just happen to have the key- Maes, you remember? The one for the compartment in Hoenheim's study?"

"I remember- but it's back at the hotel." he frowned. "We could go back and get it, but by the time we get up here again, it's going to be dark... and there're no lights on the road up."

"Damn," sighed Roy. "I suppose it'll have to wait..." he stared at the locked door in frustration.

"Well, at least we know what we're doing next," offered Maes. "Tomorrow, we open the study."


	13. The Private Study

_Sorry for the cliffhanger and slight delay... but hey, here's chapter twelve! Enjoy, and please review!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_

**CHAPTER TWELVE: The Private Study**

They crowded round the unopened door. Clara had asked if she could join them for the grand opening, as Maes had dubbed it, and anticipation was thick in the air as Roy prepared to finally reveal to the world the Elric brothers' study.

The lock was stiff, but after a few moments' struggle, the key turned. Roy suddenly realised he'd been holding his breath, and released it just as he turned the handle and pulled, opening the door to the-

-or at least he would've done, had the door not chosen that most inopportune of moments to _stick_.

The tension that had filled the air left almost immediately as the group burst out into hapless laughter. It took a good few tugs to finally open the door and _finally_ reveal the dim room that lay beyond.

Maes switched on the powerful camper's lantern he'd brought and stepped into the room. In the yellowish light, it was eerie; cluttered with papers and books and bizarre bits and pieces. As Clara had said, there were arrays everywhere: pinned to the walls, on the covers of books... strange, intricate circles covered almost every surface.

"It was alchemy." breathed Roy. "_How_ in god's name- _why_- oh, _bloody hell_."

"My thoughts exactly." muttered Maes. "I think we can safely say we know what the Sins where after though. This is unbelievable..."

Vato frowned. "Those books over there have no titles.... they look like journals."

"Where?" asked Maes, on the alert. "Oh, I see them- Riza, they're right behind you. Pass them here?"

Riza obliged, pulling one slim volume from the shelf and passing it to Maes and then stacking all the other untitled books on a nearby table. Maes opened the book almost reverently.

"A... travelogue?" he muttered.

"What?"

"It's a travelogue. But there's something weird about it... there's no canal through Lior, is there?"

Roy shook his head. "No... there's a river, not a canal."

"It's written weirdly, too. Kinda awkward, as if the author's not really sure about what they're doing..."

Clara, uncharacteristically silent up to this point, looked up. "I... don't think that's a travelogue." she said slowly. "The professor once got some research of his stolen by an associate, and ever since then, he used to write it in code... and the code he used..." she trailed off meaningfully.

"So... this is in code?" asked Maes, frowning. "Isn't everything around here... anyone got a cipher?"

"Afraid not," said Clara. "But can I have a look? I can't translate it, but... I read some of the Prof's 'travelogues' once- don't look at me like that, he let me, I couldn't understand anyway- but the point is that I might be able to tell you if it's coded or not. No promises, mind, but... it's a possibility."

"Sure," Maes shrugged. "Don't see why not. Here."

She took the book and flipped it open to a random page. "Hm."

"What?"

"This... it isn't the professor's. You're right, it is kind of awkward- there's no war memorial in Rizembul, no canal in Lior; but this mentions them... it's like whoever coded these didn't know what they were doing at all." she paused. "With a little time, you could be able to crack these."

Maes frowned. That seemed off to him... "The person who coded it was an amateur? But everything else has been so top secret, why would they let this slide... and I thought only the Elric brothers were allowed... in... here..." he trailed off, eyes widening. "No way."

The others quickly caught his drift. "Hey Clara, is there a name on that book? Anything?" Jean asked quickly.

She began to flip through the book, eyes scanning each page.

"...E.E." she said. "And A.E."

"E.E. and A.E." muttered Roy. "Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric."

"They coded their work?" Heymans said incredulously.

"Not very well," said Maes. "Although, for a pair of kids, they didn't do a half bad job... the Professor must've taught them to do it. After all, it's obvious he knew how dangerous all of this was, and it looks like he's the one behind all the security, so it makes sense that he'd try and teach his kids to code their work." he paused. "Well... sort of, anyway."

"This is waaaay over the top," muttered Jean. "All for one pair of kids?"

"And, apparently, alchemy." Riza reminded him.

"And it wasn't enough," added Clara. "They still..."

Jean bit his lip. "Oh. Yeah."

"This is getting really weird," said Kain. "You don't think they really... I mean, _alchemy? _Nobody's been able to do alchemy for hundreds of years. It was made illegal after the... _Ishbal._ All the texts were burnt- it's a lost art. It's... it should be impossible!"

"Maybe not quite as lost as we thought," said Roy, eyeing the arrays on the walls. "Although given what happened to the Elrics, I'd say they'd have been better off if it had been."

Maes tuned out the conversation around him momentarily, absent-mindedly looking over the other 'travelogues' as he thought. There was something bothering him about this room- something just wasn't _right._ There was a siren ringing in the back of his mind, his investigator's instincts in overdrive...

He glanced down at the open book in his hand. The page before him was dated the fifth of September, 1998.

_I know there's something-_

It hit him like a steamroller.

His eyes widened as he stared down at the date of the entry in the book. The entry that was so much more sophisticated, so much smoother than the entry from the first book- as if whoever had written it had had time to practice.

The older of the two of them had been ten when they were killed.

_1998. It's dated 1998._

_**The Elrics were murdered in **__**1995**_.

The words left him in a single shocked breath:

"Oh, god," he whispered. _"They didn't die."_


	14. Last Living Elrics

_Ah, late update. I'm sorry. I do have a good reason though... My mother's sort-of-maybe-boyfriend's kids came over, which took up all of my writing time, and then one of my friends needed to talk to me, and... yeah._

_Anyway, disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

* * *

_

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Last Living Elrics**

"_What?!"_

All eyes were on Maes.

"I don't think they died," he said. "Look at the date on this journal entry."

He handed the journal to Roy.

"This says... 1998? But the Elrics..."

"Exactly." grinned Maes. "Okay, so there _are_ other explanations, but..."

Roy thought it over for a second. They could've used the wrong dates, or it could've been written by someone else, he supposed, but...

_Why would they use the wrong dates? And why on earth would anyone come down here, fill the books with Hoenheim's code and then seal the room... three years after the Elrics died?_

"...Not that likely." he said.

Maes nodded. "I think the Elric brothers survived. They fell off the rocks, I know, but nobody has ever found the bodies, and it's amazing what a human being can live through..."

Clara was, needless to say, shocked. "You mena to tell me that... Ed and Al are alive?"

Maes frowned. "Well, I'd say that at the very least, they survived that fall. Where they are now, I couldn't say, but if they're still out there..."

"We've got to find them," said Riza. "We need to find out what happened to them. What if they're still in trouble?"

Jean's brow furrowed. "Still in trouble?"

"Somebody has already tried to kill them once. Now, the Sins may be locked up in Briggs, but what if we're wrong, and it wasn't them? If the killer's still out there, they could be in danger."

"She's right," said Maes. "We don't have any real, concrete evidence one way or another, and our suspicions could be wrong. They might need help."

"We have to track them down." said Roy, nodding. "So... if you were a kid being chased by murderers... where would you go?"

* * *

They dropped Clara off at the station before they began their search. Maes rang every contact he had, asking them to keep an eye out for anyone who could be Edward or Alphonse Elric, Roy went to visit the local school, just in case, and the rest of the gang split up to question the residents of Rizembul again.

"I'll send the photograph up to Central," said Maes. "I know somebody who might be able to help us 'age up' the Elric brothers; figure out what they might look like now. Alex is going to send out a missing persons notice... there's not a great deal that can be done, though. It's like they didn't even exist, which makes looking for them a tad tricky."

"You're telling me," sighed Roy. "I spoke to the headmaster, but nobody resembling either of the Elric brothers is currently attending Rizembul High."

"They probably left town," said Maes. "I mean, sure, the first few years they were probably a bit young to travel about on their own- people notice ten year olds without adult supervision- but once they hit twelve, thirteen... no problem."

"Hm." Roy frowned. "The first few years, huh? And the date in that journal... they were here until 1998, all by themselves. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"This whole thing strikes me as odd," grumbled Maes. "I mean... hiding your children? Secret journals and rooms and god knows what else? _Alchemy?_" he paused. "But... I agree. There is something weird about that."

"I think," muttered Roy, "That someone around here knows more than they're letting on. Someone took care of those kids and helped them keep hidden."

"Oh?" Maes raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's a definite possibility, but who? Who in Rizembul would take in two strange kids and keep them hidden form the rest of the town?"

Roy sighed. "I don't know."

"Maybe we should go and find the others," said Maes. "Pool our thoughts. They might even have an idea about this mystery childminder for you."

"Yeah..." Roy sighed. "This case is driving me nuts. Who'd have thought some little country village murder would turn out to be so complicated?"

"Murder is always complicated," said Maes with a shake of his head. "Come on. Let's get back to the hotel."

* * *

"A mystery childminder?" asked Jean, mildly amused. "I guess that's one way of putting it... I'm afraid I've got no idea. Everyone I spoke to just seemed confused."

"I can't help you either." said Vato. "Nobody I talked to seemed suspicious."

Breda shrugged. "Nope, no idea. Kain?"

"Nothing." sighed Kain. "Sorry."

"I might have an idea."

Everyone turned to Riza. "You do?"

"The Rockbells," she said thoughtfully. "They seemed... shocked when I talked to them, but... I don't thin they were shocked because the Elrics were alive. It almost seemed like they were shocked that _I _knew they were alive."

Roy frowned.

"Pinako is a very interesting woman," continued Riza. "I'm sure that if two boys showed up at her door asking her to hide them, she wouldn't ask questions, she'd just do it- and do it well, too. Not to mention her family was quite friendly with the Professor and Trisha- she might even have been in on it from the start."

"Now that you mention it... it wouldn't surprise me." said Maes thoughtfully. "I'm not sure about her being in on it from the start, but looking after them? I can see that."

"Well then," said Roy, "Let's go talk to Pinako Rockbell."


	15. The Rockbell Secret?

_Okay! ONCE AGAIN, I am back from hiatus, and this time I have backed up my chapter plan to make sure that any future laptop problems won't affect my updates. _

_This time, I'm back for good... provided nothing ELSE goes wrong, anyway. Fingers crossed!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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_**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: The Rockbell Secret?**

Pinako raised an eyebrow at them as she opened her front door. "Mr Mustang and crew. What brings you here?"

Roy smiled. "Good morning, Mrs Rockbell. Is this a good time? We've got a few more questions."

She took a puff on her pipe. "Of course you do." she said. "Too many, if you ask me. Well, come in. Tea, coffee?"

"No thank you. Are you sure we're not bothering you?"

She gave a wry chuckle. "Oh, come in already. I suppose you'd like to speak to Winry as well?"

They exchanged looks. "I think so."

"Winry!" she called up the stairs. "We've got guests!"

There was a muffled thump from upstairs, and then Winry descended with a box of various bits and pieces, none of which Roy could identify. She put them aside and turned to the visitors.

"Oh, it's you guys," she said, looking mildly surprised. "Are you here about the Elrics again?"

Roy nodded. "We have a theory that we thought you might be able to help us with."

Pinako lead them through to the kitchen and they seated themselves around the table. "You think that the Elric boys are alive, don't you?"

Riza nodded. "We think that after surviving the attack, they might have gone to somebody Rizembul for protection. A family friend, perhaps somebody their parents knew." she gave Granny Pinako a meaningful look.

Pinako was unmoved.

"Really now? That's an interesting theory, but I'm not sure I can help you. Sorry."

"Oh, you can't?" said Roy, affecting disappointment. "That's an awful shame… we just thought that since you and your family have been so helpful with our investigation so far, you might know something."

Pinako did not seem impressed by Roy's plea. "I'm afraid neither me nor Winry know a thing about those boys other than what we've already told you." she said. "Of course, we'll do our best to help, but there's not much we can do."

Roy felt a flash of irritation.

_She does know something,_ he thought, _I'm sure of it._

"Well, how about if we tell you what we've found so far? Maybe we can jog your memories." he offered.

Pinako shrugged. "Go ahead. No harm in trying, after all."

Maes rattled off their findings. "Seven years ago, a gang known as the sins targeted the Elric family. The motive behind the attack was somehow related to alchemy; and alchemy was also the reason the Professor and his wife kept their children a secret... we know that the Elric brothers survived the attack on their family, and afterwards, we believe that they went to somebody in the village for help; a friend of their parents, who hid them for several years before sending them somewhere else." He glanced at his listeners. "Unfortunately, we don't know who that family friend was."

Pinako's expression barely flickered throughout- but Winry was another story.

"Winry?" Riza prompted. "Do you think you might remember something?"

"Oh- oh no." she said quickly. "It's just… those poor boys, it must've been terrible for them."

"Which is why it's all the more necessary that we find them." said Roy seriously. "They could still be in danger. They need protection."

Pinako frowned. "Really, now…"

"So it's of vital importance that we find them." Roy pressed, holding Pinako's gaze.

_I __**know **__you know, _he thought. _And you're going to tell me… because you wanted to protect them all those years ago, and you want to protect them now. _

"If anybody knew, and was concealing something… I hate to think how they'd feel if we couldn't find them in time to warn them." he said, quietly.

There was a long silence, thick with tension. Roy found himself holding his breath.

"That's just dirty tactics, Mr Mustang." said Pinako, eventually. Winry turned to her in shock.

"Grandma!"

"It's alright, Winry." she sighed. "Ed and Al will understand."

Roy felt his heart leap.

_We found them. We actually FOUND them!_

"Yes, I took those boys in. I'll admit that to you, because I know you just want to help them… but if you think you're getting their whereabouts out of me, you're sorely mistaken."

Roy's heart fell again, and he frowned.

Pinako took a deep breath.

"I know where they are, and I can tell you this: they're safe. Isn't a safer place on earth, I'd wager. Even if somebody could find them, there's no way anyone's getting past their… guardians." she smirked. "They'd kill anybody who tried. They love those boys like they were their own, and they're more than capable of protecting them from anything that comes their way."

"But the Elrics were killed! These people could be in danger!"

"Hah!" Pinako snorted. "I'd be more worried about the gang members, if I were you."

Roy opened his mouth to object again- but decided it would be best, for now at least, to change the subject. "Alright. They're safe, I'll accept that, but…"

"I'm not telling you where they are. If they want to talk to you, they'll find you."

"Please, Mrs Rockbell," said Riza. "We just want to solve this mystery… don't they want justice for their parents' deaths?"

"If they do, it's their business, and they'll sort it out. You listen to me- if you find them on your own, then that's fine and dandy, but Winry and I aren't helping you. Those boys came to me that night and they made me promise I'd never let anybody find them. I won't break that promise."

"Mrs Rockbell-" began Roy, but he was cut off by Maes.

"No, Roy. We're not gong to get anything out of her." he said, softly, and turned to Pinako. "I understand. Thank you for your time, Mrs Rockbell, Winry. We won't intrude any further."

"Maes!"

"She made a promise, Roy." said Maes. "We'll find them on our own."


	16. Two Blonde Boys

_We've had such nice weather lately, and now it's gone all grim again... ah, well. Not much else to say today, so enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Two Blonde Boys**

They walked up to the mansion in silence, the conversation with Pinako Rockbell replaying in their minds.

"Let's take another look at the boys' study," said Riza. "Maybe there's a clue there?"

"Worth a shot," agreed Maes. "And I want to grab those journals, too. I don't know why we didn't bring them back last time…"

They made their way through the huge house to the dining room. Maes began handing out instructions.

"Alright, Roy, you move the table, and Jean, pull up the-" he cut himself off. "_What the hell!?"_

The dining room lay in disarray; the table up against the wall, the carpet pulled back, and the trapdoor wide open.

"Oh my god."

Roy took charge. "Alright, Jean, Heymans and Vato, I want you to go down. Be prepared; we don't know who or what is down there. Everyone else, split up. Search the house, gardens, everywhere- and _be careful!"

* * *

_

Riza felt gravel crunch beneath her feet. She couldn't help the feeling of apprehension that gripped her, making her heart beat just that bit faster, making it just that bit harder to breathe.

_Who would come here? Why? What if it wasn't the Sins, and the __**real **__killers have come to get rid of us?_

She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned towards it-

-and her heart skipped a beat.

There were two teenage boys holding heavy-looking bags, sneaking away along the side of the house.

_It can't be- there's no way- __**the Elric brothers?**_

"Hey!" she shouted, and raced after them. "Hey! Come back!"

The shorter of the two spun round, golden eyes glaring daggers at her. "Just back off!" he shouted, spitting fire, and took off running again.

"_Oh- no- you- don't!"_ Riza growled to herself. "Hey! HEY!"

She pushed herself harder, but they were already far ahead of her, running for the main road beyond the mansion grounds.

"Please, come back!"

But it was too late.

They had reached a car parked in the lay-by. The one with sandy brown hair- _Alphonse, _she thought- turned around to face her.

"I'm sorry!" he called. "But please, trust us- we don't need your help!"

They threw themselves and their bags into the car, and the driver- a fierce looking woman with dreadlocks- turned to glare at her before screeching out of the lay-by and onto the road. The car's number plate was missing.

Riza slowed to a halt and stared after them, mouth wide with disbelief.

"Oh…" she, murmured, out of breath. "…Bloody _hell_."

* * *

"Roy, there's no-one down there- but the journals are missing, and someone's thrown ink all over the arrays."

"I didn't find anyone upstairs-"

"-There's no-one in the forest-"

"They're gone."

All eyes turned to Riza. She looked windswept, and she was breathing heavily.

"Riza, what happened?"

"I think… I think the Elric brothers happened." she said. "They ran off when I saw them and got into a car… told me they didn't need our help."

"You… the _Elric brothers?"_

"Yes," she ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "And I didn't get the chance to even _try _and talk to them… the car had no number plate. I think they were expecting us."

"And the journals are gone… damnit!" Jean cursed.

"The journals?" asked Riza. "I see… that's what they were carrying."

"They took the journals and then hightailed out of here." muttered Maes. "That's just _great."_

"Okay, it's true that the journals are gone, and that's bad," said Roy, "But… just think for a moment."

"We've seen them," said Kain, catching Roy's drift. "We know they're alive now. I mean… okay, Mrs Rockbell _did_ tell us, but we've _seen _them now."

Riza nodded. "And I know what one of their guardians looks like. We might be able to find her."

"And if we find her…"

"…we find _them." _Roy smirked.

Maes grinned "Riza and I will head back to the hotel. The results of the age-up should've arrived by now, so Riza, you can compare them to the boys you saw. Everyone else should stay here and see if they left anything behind that we can use."

Roy nodded. "That'll work. See you later, Maes, Riza. Everyone else… let's start looking."

* * *

Riza studied the two pictures at length.

"They had longer hair than this," she said, brushing her fingers over the picture, "But… the face- the eyes- it's them. I didn't see them too well, but… well enough to recognize them. They were the Elric brothers, I'm sure of it."

"Can you describe the woman?"

Riza nodded. "She was pale, with long black dreadlocks… I didn't see much else, but I'd say she was fairly tall. She looked angry."

Maes jotted down what she'd said. "Well, I don't expect the description to yield much, but I'll ask people to keep an eye out."

"At least we know what the boys look like," Riza sighed. "Why don't they want our help?"

"Maybe," muttered Maes, "They think we're in danger… after all, look what happened to them."


	17. Lost Art of Alchemy

_Ever so slightly late update. Read, review, enjoy, etc.  
_

_Disclaimer: I won nothing.

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_**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Lost Art of Alchemy**

"So… what do we do now?"

Maes sighed. "We've got no leads on the Elric brothers. We don't even know where to start- the road they took leads to three major cities, two international airports and at least a dozen small towns and villages. They could be _anywhere."_

"And there was nothing at the house..."

There was a long, despondent silence.

"You know, I thought we were finally getting somewhere with this bloody case." Roy muttered.

The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement. They'd hoped that the arrival of the Elric brothers would be a good thing- instead, it only complicated matters.

Finally, Riza had had enough.

"Let's look up alchemy."

"Hm?"

"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? It's obviously an important part of this, but we know next to nothing about it. We've got no leads on the Elric brothers, we've spoken to everyone in the village a dozen times over... we can't just sit around waiting for clues to drop into our laps. The professor had a good library of alchemy books, so let's go read- and who knows, maybe we'll find something."

Nobody had any arguments, so yet again, they found themselves making their way up to the Elric mansion.

* * *

"_Alchemy is a science akin to magic, an art centuries old that has been lost to the mists of time.._. talk about flowery language." Maes snickered.

"This book's a little less... florid. _Alchemy is a science thought to have many uses, from day to day life to medicine. It was heavily used in a great deal of military campaigns, including the Ishbal massacre; a crime against humanity so great that it lead to huge public backlash against alchemy and its practitioners. The people rebelled, and eventually alchemy was made illegal. Alchemists were executed and all books burnt; a campaign so successful that to this day, alchemy remains a lost art. Although scientists and historians have done their best, nobody has ever found the vital missing piece of the puzzle that made alchemy a powerful force in our past, and sadly, it is beginning to look like nobody ever will." _Roy snorted. "Apparently, the Elrics didn't think much of the Amestrian Encyclopaedia's predictions and went ahead and found the missing piece anyway."

"Wonder what it is?" Kain mused idly. "This one's a bit more sciency, I can't make head or tail of it. Vato, you're good at this sort of thing- what do you think?"

Vato skimmed the text briefly.

"It's comparing what we know of alchemy to chemistry. The two appear to be quite closely related, actually... apparently there's some old texts which describe something called equivalent exchange, which is curiously similar to the conservation of mass..."

Kain nodded thoughtfully. "Well, we _know _it must have involved some pretty advanced science- kind of weird to think that they were more advanced back then than we are today. According to this, it's been theorised that alchemists entered a 'higher plane' or alternate dimension while transmuting... of course, _this _book dismisses that theory as the ravings of demented drug addicts, so I suppose we ought to take it with a pinch of salt."

"Anybody else feel like this is getting us nowhere?" asked Roy, who had turned his book upside down as if it might make more sense that way.

"You never know what could be helpful... and I really don't think turning it sideways is going to help either, Roy." said Maes as Roy turned the book again.

"I'm just looking at this array... you'd have to have a steady hand, that's for sure."

"I can see why the Sins were after this," said Riza, "If the Elrics got this to work... just think what you could do with that knowledge and a _complete_ lack of morals."

There was a collective shudder as the group contemplated that thought.

"Not good," mumbled Jean. "Really, really not good."

"Well, there was a reason they banned it," said Roy. "It's not called the Ishbal massacre for no reason. They destroyed an entire city in less than a day and killed thousands of people... it took decades for the people of Ishbal to even begin to recover."

"They thought that alchemy was a sin, so they were completely defenceless," added Maes."People did horrible things with alchemy."

"They did wonderful things, too," pointed out Kain. "They developed all kinds of new medicines, and automail wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for some of the alchemists' research... most scientific advances in the past thousand years have been thanks, in part, to alchemy. Architecture, medicine, travel, technology, heck, even the food we eat... it's all been influenced by alchemy at some point."

"Shall we save the debate for another time?" asked Roy. They grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry. Got carried away."

Roy nodded. "Anybody found anything useful?"

"Nothing about the case in specific, but I think we've all got a lot to think about, and this information could definitely come in handy."

"Well- oh, hang on a second. Is that your phone, Maes?"

Maes didn't reply, already searching for the ringing phone. He held up a finger to silence everyone.

"Hi, this is Maes Hughes- oh? Oh!" he smiled widely. "Yes, that's fine- fantastic. Yup. Uh-huh. We'll be there tomorrow. This is excellent news, it's come at the perfect time- yes- okay- thanks, Olivia. See you tomorrow." He snapped the phone shut and grinned.

"Well? What is it?" asked Roy.

"That was Olivia Armstrong. We can meet the Sins tomorrow."


	18. Meeting Sins

_This story is gradually drawing to a close... over the next few chapters, please do tell me what you think. Is it a good mystery? Does it make sense? Is it predictable?_ _I've been trying hard to make sure it's interesting and not too easy to figure out_, _and I'd appreciate it if you left me a note telling me how well you think I've done that._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Meeting Sins**

The group stepped off the Central Express, breathing the polluted air of the city for the first time since the case had begun. Roy found himself missing the wide open space he had become used to in the tiny village of Rizembul.

He glanced around the station, looking for the friend Maes had said would meet them here. Maes told them he'd be 'hard to miss', but-

Oh.

_Hard to miss indeed, _though Roy, smiling despite himself as he caught sight of Alex Armstrong's huge form.

"There you are!" Alex beamed, pulling both Maes and Roy into a bear hug at the same time. "And this must be your team- Mr Vato Falman, Mr Kain Fuery, Mr Heymans Breda, Mr Jean Havoc and Ms Riza Hawkeye, I presume?"

"That's right," said Jean, and immediately found his hand in Alex Armstrong's vice-like grip.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" the huge man boomed.

For a moment, Roy could've _sworn _he saw the huge man sparkle.

* * *

Alex drove them all to the prison. As much as Roy liked the man, he was secretly glad when they arrived at Briggs- too much of Alex Armstrong at a time was exhausting.

"Thank you for the lift, Alex. We really appreciate it."

"It's no problem! My family has a history of-"

"Ah, that's fascinating, really," Roy interrupted hurriedly, "But we don't want to be late to meet your sister."

"Ah," said Alex. "I understand completely. My dear sister can be quite daunting at times. I bid you farewell, then, and good luck with your case!"

The huge man got back into his car- more of a minivan really- and drove away. Roy stared up at the sombre front of the prison with apprehension in his gut.

"Well," he said. "Let's get this over with."

The security checks took over an hour, but finally they were admitted into Olivia Armstrong's inner sanctum. A tall and frankly rather terrifying woman met them.

"Roy Mustang," she said, obviously displeased. "And here I thought I'd finally seen the last of you."

"Hello, Olivia." he said weakly.

"You haven't changed a bit," she said, "unfortunately."

"Well, I think I've changed a little... perhaps we ought to get caught up? A few drinks?"

"I'd drink the likes of _you _under the table," she said. "And you'd be paying."

"...Then again, perhaps I'm a little short on cash right now."

She snorted. "Coward. Well, Miles here will show you around... I've got work to do."

Miles gave him a curt nod. "This way."

They followed Miles down into the bowels of the ex-fortress. When they reached their destination, eh turned and gave them each an evaluating look.

"These are the visitors' rooms. Wait here, I'll bring them in one by one. You have a maximum of fifteen minutes with each prisoner, and you are only allowed to ask or answer questions pertaining to your case. You are forbidden to touch the prisoners, give the prisoners anything or take anything from the prisoners. Your conversations will be monitored and you will be searched before leaving the building. If you break or bend any of those rules, you'll be arrested."

"We understand," said Roy, trying not to look nervous.

"Alright then," said Miles. "I'll bring them in."

Dante was brought in first- she was a slim woman with dark curly hair and violet eyes. Even dressed in a prison uniform, she managed to convey an air of superiority.

"I'm Roy Mustang," he introduced himself, "And this is Maes Hughes, Riza Hawkeye, Jean Havoc, Vato Falman, Kain Fuery and Heymans Breda. We'd like to ask you a few questions, please, Dante."

"Of course you would," she said silkily. "I'm afraid, Mr Mustang, that I can't guarantee you any answers."

Roy raised an eyebrow briefly. "What do you know about the Elrics?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Dante's face. That made sense, of course- they were the first people to connect her to the Elric murders. However, her expression shifted very quickly from surprised to devious.

"The Elrics? Hm... If you're talking about my relationship with Hoenheim, I think that's rather too personal." she said smugly.

"Relationship?" asked Maes, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of relationship?"

Dante scowled. "We dated, once," she said, unable to keep the bitter edge out of her voice, "Before he married that woman."

"You mean... Trisha Douglas?"

A curt nod.

"I see..." said Maes, contemplatively. "Do the names Edward and Alphonse Elric mean anything to you?"

Her eyes glittered, and her lips curved into the nastiest smirk Roy had seen in a long while. She leant forwards, baiting them a little, and in that moment, Roy _knew_ that she was the one responsible for what had happened.

"No." she answered, leaning backwards again. "Who were they?" she asked innocently.

"Hoenheim and Trisha's sons." Maes said, narrowing his eyes. "Are you sure you don't know about them?"

"Oh, I'm afraid so. I was of the impression that they were childless." she smiled wickedly.

Roy grit his teeth. "Well, what do you know about the Elrics?"

"I know what you think, Roy Mustang... and you're correct. I am responsible. Hoenheim broke a deal with me, and I do not take kindly to such things."

Roy raised his eyebrows. "You admit to it?"

"And why not? My sentence is life. I'm not leaving any time soon. Another crime will make no difference."

Riza spoke up. "What deal did he break?"

Dante stretched languidly, studying the handcuffs on her wrists as she answered. "You know, I believe I've forgotten. How strange."

Roy scowled.

"What else can you tell us?" pressed Riza.

Dante grinned.

"Why, absolutely nothing, Miss Hawkeye."

Dante would answer no more of their questions, so Miles brought in the next gang member- Dante's own son, Envy.

He glared at each of them. "You know I won't tell you anything, right?" he said.

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Nothing? Dante has already told us about your part in what happened at the mansion, you know. About the deal... and about Edward and Alphonse Elric."

Envy narrowed his eyes. "She told you about the brats?"

_Jackpot, _thought Roy victoriously. "We were of the impression that the Elrics were childless," he said, echoing Dante's words. "Until she mentioned their role in this..."

"The old man should've given them up like he promised," said Envy with a shrug..

_Given them up? _thought Roy. _Was that their deal? _

"You can't blame him for wanting to protect his children," said Roy, fishing for more information.

"We wouldn't have _hurt_ them." Envy smirked nastily.

Roy recalled something he'd said ages ago, way back when they'd found the journal.

"_What exactly did these people want? Why wouldn't he give it to them?"_

They wanted his _children. _

They wanted to take the Elric brothers and force them to use their alchemy for god only knew what. Hoenheim had pretended to agree, hoping to buy time to run away...

Then the Sins found out.

_But they didn't win, _he thought. _They got arrested for some other crime, and the Elric brothers are still out there. They're alive, they're presumably safe and happy... _

"You lost." muttered Roy aloud.

"What?" asked Envy sharply. Roy ignored him.

"Miles? We're ready to leave."

_That's it. I know what happened now._

_All that remains... are the Elric brothers._


	19. Finding the Elric Brothers

_Yesterday this story hit 100 reviews!_ _Thank you so much!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Finding the Elric Brothers**

"Here again, are you? I'm not telling you about those boys."

"Oh- oh no," said Riza. "I'm not here on case business today. I just came to talk to you."

She was alone, dressed casually, and the notepad she normally carried with her was nowhere to be seen. Pinako raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really, now?"

"I had some things I wanted to tell you," she said. "That I thought... well, I know they don't want our help, but... I thought you could tell them what we've found out, anyway."

Pinako considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Alright," she said. "Come on in. Can I get you anything?"

"A cup of tea would be good." Riza smiled.

Pinako set to boiling the kettle, gesturing for Riza to take a seat at the table. A few moments later she set a porcelain cup down with a soft _clack_ and sat down opposite her.

"What did you come to tell me, then?"

"We went to the prison yesterday," said Riza, adding milk to her tea. "We spoke to the Sins, and we finally got all the pieces in place. We know what happened."

Pinako fixed her with an inscrutable look. "And what was that?"

Riza took a deep breath.

"Some of this is just guessing, but... a while before they moved to Rizembul, Edward and Alphonse Elric started practicing alchemy. And I mean real, proper alchemy- how and why, we don't know, but we _do_ know that Dante and her gang found out, forcing the Elric family to flee. They moved back into an old family property, keeping the move fairly low-key. Only the residents of the local village- Rizembul- knew where they were. They kept their children hidden as an extra precaution."

Pinako nodded. "Go on."

"Unfortunately, though, it was not enough. The Sins found them and began to threaten Hoenheim... asking him to give up his children in exchange for his life. Hoenheim eventually agreed, but only to buy time for them to make another run for it... but the Sins saw through his plot. They came the night before he was due to leave and shot both Hoenheim and Trisha, presumably planning to take the brothers and leave, but their plans were thwarted when Edward and Alphonse ran off into the woods and fell off the rocks. The Sins assumed they were dead, and left..." she took a breath, "...but they survived. They snuck through the village to your home and you took them in. When your son and daughter-in-law died in a car crash, though, it became more difficult to hide them, so you sent them somewhere else."

Pinako Rockbell was silent for a long moment.

"Mrs Rockbell?"

"Yes, I'd say that's about right." she sighed. "When they came up to our door, we thought they were just messing about... until Winry told us they were the boys she'd seen fall off the rocks."

Riza nodded. "What about the fall, though? Weren't they injured? It doesn't look survivable, frankly..."

"They didn't fall." said Pinako. "They jumped. They played up there a lot, you see, because they knew the village kids weren't allowed there, and they found a ledge. They used to climb down to it... and on that night, they were desperate enough to try and jump. They were lucky to make it, really... Winry's been and looked at it once or twice, and she reckons it's barely big enough for one boy, never mind two."

"Are you talking about me, Granny?" Winry's voice came from the door. "Oh! Ms Hawkeye."

"Hello, Winry," she nodded in greeting. "I just came to tell your grandma our findings. I thought she might want to pass the message along to Edward and Alphonse that the people who are responsible for this have been found."

"Oh, I see..." Winry said.

"Thank you for telling us," said Pinako. "We'll pass the message along to Ed and Al."

"Is there no chance we could tell them?" asked Riza, hopefully. "It's just... well, after spending so long on this case, we're anxious to break the news ourselves."

"Nice try, but not a chance."

Riza sighed. "Not even a phone number?"

"Afraid not."

"Well..." Riza bit her lip thoughtfully. "Couldn't we write them a letter? We wouldn't need their address," she said hurriedly, seeing the annoyed expression already forming on Pinako's face. "We'll give it to you to post."

Pinako considered this for a second.

"Alright," she agreed finally. "Bring your letter here once you're done and I'll send it."

Riza smiled.

* * *

Pinako took the unaddressed envelope and turned it over suspiciously. "You haven't stuck anything on this, have you?"

"Of course not!" said Riza. "We thought you might want to check it, so we didn't seal it."

She pulled the letter out of the dark blue envelope, turned it over and checked both sides, and then she studied the inside of the envelope for anything that shouldn't be there. Eventually she seemed satisfied.

"Okay then. I'll send it."

* * *

Gregory Windsor had been a postman for fourteen years, and he loved his job. He whistled as he unlocked the post-box, and was just about to grab the letters when a child's shout caught him by surprise.

"Mummy, mummy! It's a post-man! Can we go talk to him, can we?"

"Well, we don't want to interrupt him in his work..."

He turned to smile, leaving the box open. "Oh, now, I don't mind." He said cheerfully. "What's your name, love?"

"Elysia!" she said brightly. "And I'm THREE!"

"Wow, three? Who's a big girl! I have a granddaughter your age."

The mother gave him a weak smile. "I hope she isn't bothering you..."

"Oh, not at all, I like kids." he said cheerfully.

"I want to be a postlady when I grow up," Elysia told him seriously. "And deliver letters all over the world!"

Gregory smiled. Technically it was against the rules, but it wouldn't hurt just this once... what harm could a little girl do?

"Well then, Postlady Elysia, would you like to help me with the letters?"

Elysia's face lit up. "Oh, can I? Mummy, can I?"

"Well, if Mister...?"

"Gregory Windsor."

"If Mister Windsor says you can, then that's okay."

"Hooray!" Elysia cheered, and reached into the post-box. "Here you go Mr Postman! One letter, two letters, three letters..." she dropped them into the bag one by one. "Oooh! Look at this letter Mr Postman! Isn't the enva... the _en-va-lop_ pretty? It's blue!"

He smiled widely. "Oh, it is pretty, isn't it?"

"Can I show my mummy, Mr Postman?"

"Well..." he hesitated for a moment.

"Please, Mr Postman?"

He gave in. After all, what harm could it do? "Alright then."

"Mummy, look!" Elysia passed it over to her mother, who took the envelope and dutifully inspected it.

"Very nice, Elysia." She said, and handed it back to her. "Now give the letter back to Mr Windsor, Elysia, and let's get going, okay? We don't want to be late for Daddy, do we?"

"Okay!" she said brightly and gave him the letter. "Thank you for letting me help you, Mr Postman!"

Greg Windsor waved as the mother and child left, chuckling to himself.

"What a sweet kid."

* * *

Maes grinned and swept Elysia into his arms. "Who's' a clever little girl?" he grinned, pecking her on the cheek. "Who's my clever little angel?"

Gracia smiled. "She found the right one straight away, no problem," she said. "Maes! Put the poor child down, you'll hug her to death if you're not careful!"

"I would never hurt my precious little girl!" Maes declared dramatically, but put her down. Elysia giggled at her father's antics.

Roy smiled. "I can't thank you enough for helping out, Gracia. Oh, and Elysia?"

"Uncle Roy?"

"We got you a present," he grinned. "Here you go..."

"Teddy!" Elysia squealed delightedly. "Thank you Uncle Roy!"

Roy ruffled her hair. "Oh, no, thank _you_. You've been a big help today, Elysia."

Riza smiled. "You have indeed. Gracia, what was the address?"

Gracia grinned.

"Izumi and Sieg Curtis, 12 Kings Road, Dublith."


	20. The Elric Brothers

_This story will end in the nest chapter (possibly two). Another fic draws to a close..._

_Uh, I apologise for the prolific use of page dividers in this chapter. Sorry.  
_

_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

* * *

_

**CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Elric Brothers**

There was a frisson of excitement in the air, an infectious tension that made the group fidgety and nervous. This was the moment: this was what all their investigation had been building up to. Hunting down employees, questioning crooks, staking out post-boxes- everything came to this.

It didn't _look _all that exciting. Roy wasn't quite sure where he'd imagined the Elric brothers living, but this was... well, it was very _normal_. A butcher's shop, its painted signs cracked with age and two hanging baskets outside; nothing sinister or extraordinary about it.

It made sense, of course. But it was still somehow disappointing.

"So... do we just go in?" hazarded Jean.

"We don't want to scare them off..." said Roy, hesitating, but really... what else where they going to do?

As it turned out, they didn't need to do anything at all.

* * *

Edward Elric was, at that moment, on his way back to the shop. He'd just finished making a delivery and now he was more than ready for a break.

Noticing a small huddle outside the shop, he rang the bell on his bike loudly.

"Uh, do you need help, or something?" he begun. "My guardian runs this place..."

He trailed off.

"_**What the hell are you doing here?!"**_

The blonde woman he'd seen at the mansion the other day turned around.

"You're Edward-"

"_Curtis. _His name is Edward _Curtis_._" _interrupted a harsh voice. All heads turned towards the door of the butcher's shop.

"And I'm his guardian," finished Izumi. "Now, I _suggest_ you all come in so we can talk about this somewhere _away_ from prying eyes."

Her eyes were narrowed dangerously, and Roy knew that however she might have phrased it, it was _not_ a suggestion.

* * *

They gathered around the table, feeling distinctly uncomfortable under Izumi Curtis's blazing glare.

"How'd you find them?" she asked in a clipped voice.

"We had a three year old hijack the post," said Roy before he could consider what kind of response that might garner. As soon as he said it, he regretted it, especially when Izumi treated him to a particularly fierce glare.

"I wouldn't joke around if I were you."

Roy swallowed. Suddenly, he understood what Granny Pinako had been talking about.

"Mrs Curtis, he's telling the truth," said Riza, trying to smooth things over. "Maes here has a three year old daughter who distracted the postman for us."

Izumi snorted, but dropped that particular line of inquiry.

"I thought we told you we didn't need your help," said Edward. "We're _fine."_

"_Brother_," chastised Alphonse. "but... he's right, you know. We're safe here. Izumi and Sieg will protect us."

"I don't doubt that," said Maes, eyeing Izumi warily. "We just...we wanted to talk to you. We think we understand what happened, but there's nothing like an eyewitness account. We're not here to hurt you, and if you want to stay hidden, that's fine... we just want to know what _really _happened."

Izumi appraised them critically for an incredibly long and incredibly terrifying few seconds.

"It's up to the boys if they want to talk to you," she said eventually. "But be warned: if you _do _try to hurt them, _you'll answer to me_."

"I assure you, Ma'am, we wouldn't dream of it." said Roy quickly.

"See that you don't." growled Izumi. Edward snickered. Roy very nearly shot him a nasty glare, but catching sight of Izumi's expression he thought better of it.

"We'll talk to you," said Alphonse, causing Edward to reel round.

"Al!"

"Brother, they've come all this way to find us, and you're going to send them away? Talking to them won't do any harm."

"But-"

Al interrupted him. "Give me one good reason why we shouldn't!"

"We don't need their help!"

"Maybe they need ours!"

"Who are they to come snooping around our lives?"

"They're trying to solve a murder! Don't you want justice for Mum and Dad?"

"Of course I do, Al!" Edward protested. "But..."

"I know you want us to put the past behind us," said Al gently, "But I think we should talk to them."

Edward sighed.

"Alright."

* * *

"_Dad, look!"_

"_Edward? Alphonse? What is- have you two been messing around in my study again?"_

"_Da-ad," moaned Edward. "Just look!"_

"_What are you..." Hoenheim trailed off._

_The scrawled circle on the floor sparked._

"_Boys..."_

_It flickered._

"_Edward, Alphonse, you've done very well, but you're too young to-"_

_And then suddenly it lit up in huge coruscating storm of light. The scrap fabric and wood in its centre began to twist and writhe and crackle, forming itself into first a pair of legs, then a body, arms, a head... hair, clothes, a face... a doll._

"_Oh my god."

* * *

_

"That was the first time we ever transmuted," said Edward. "Dad was pretty shocked, to say the least. We saw the theory in one of his journals... he hadn't tested it, so we did."

"He found it," said Al. "The 'missing piece.' The part that's been missing all these years... he found it, and we put it to use."

"Needless to say, he was worried. We were told never to use alchemy where we could be seen and never to tell anybody what we knew... but in the end, we got found out anyway. I still don't know how, but..."

* * *

"_Boys, grab your things and get in the car."_

"_Mum? Where are we going?"_

"_We're going to move house!" Trisha said brightly. "There's a big old house in the country where we'll have more space. But we need to go quickly, okay, boys?"_

_Cheerful as she seemed, she couldn't quite hide the undertone of worry in her voice. Ed and Al hurried to the car.

* * *

_

"When we arrived in Rizembul, Mum warned us that we needed to stay hidden. They set up a place for us to practice our alchemy and Dad taught us to code our work. Outside of a few select people, nobody knew we existed... until the third of October."

* * *

_The shot echoed through the house._

"_Find the brats," an unfamiliar, arrogant voice floated up the stairs. "But don't hurt them."_

_Ed's head was filled with awful questions, none of which he knew the answers to- who fired that shot? Why?_

_Did it hit anyone?_

_No. He had to stay calm- get Al out of the house. That was what he had to do. He was the big brother and it was his job to look after Al, Mum always said so and- was Mum alright? Oh, please, please- stop thinking about it! Just get Al out of the house. Just get Al out of the house..._

"_Al, come on. If we sneak along the corridor, we can use the back stairs. We'll meet up with Mum and Dad later."_

"_Promise?"_

_Ed hesitated just for a second, doubts crowding his mind-_

"_Promise."_

_Al grabbed his hand- or maybe he grabbed Al's- and they hurried along the corridor as quietly as they could. They could hear footsteps on the main stair, but there were only a few meters to go- they could make it...!_

"_There they are!"_

"_Run!"Ed tugged hard on Al's hand and they raced for the stairs. _

"_Kitchen," grunted Ed, not willing to spare the breath to explain- but Al understood. They ran through the house and skidded into the kitchen, slamming the door behind them. Ed scrambled to find the keys and unlock the backdoor._

_But where to from here?_

_The trees! They could hide there-_

"_Ed!" Al gave an alarmed cry. Ed looked back over his shoulder to see a figure looming in the door._

"_Come on!"_

_The figure stumbled and cursed as they reached the forest. Unable to duck under low branches like the boys and not as used to the terrain, he fell ever further behind. Ed and Al kept running, and for a moment, Ed thought they'd finally lost their hanger-on- but just as they reached the rocks by the river, he reared up behind them._

_The ledge, thought Ed. There's nowhere else..._

_Ed led Al towards the precipice. "This way, Al!"_

_Al caught on quickly, and just as they reached the edge, they jumped. They hit the ledge with a soft thump, and immediately they crouched down in the shadow of the rock face to ensure they wouldn't be seen._

_They heard the man's footsteps as he stopped short, and then his slow, cautious shuffle towards the cliff edge. They could hear his breathing as he peered over._

"_Well," he muttered, sounding irritated. "They're dead now..."_

_Ed and Al stayed where they were for well over an hour. Only when they were absolutely sure the killers were gone did they dare move._

_They climbed back up from the ledge and wandered through the trees, wary against even the slightest threat. As they reached the edge of the trees they saw policemen clustered around their home._

"_M-mum and Dad..."_

_Ed swallowed. "They're probably in the village," he said. "Th-they probably took Mum and Dad straight to the nearest doctor.... or- or if they're not hurt, they probably went to stay at Doctor Rockbell's anyway until the police are gone. We should go find them."_

_Al's hand sought out Ed's and they made their way down to the village.

* * *

_

"Of course, when we got there we found out..." Ed sighed. "We asked the Rockbells to look after us, to hide us, and they did. When Mr and Mrs Rockbell died, they sent us away... to our father's old research partner, Izumi."

Roy nearly spat out his tea. "Your father's old research partner?"

Al shrugged. "She used to be really interested in alchemy before she met Sieg, but then she gave it up to run this shop with him. She was like an aunt to us when we were little."

"Really?" Jean raised an eyebrow. "She's not very, uh, auntish..."

Ed snorted. "Don't let her hear you say that. She'll beat you to death with a frying pan... if you're lucky."

"See, that's sort of what I mean." Jean complained. Al giggled.

"Izumi is kind of scary, but she's really nice once you get to know her..."

"...As long as you don't piss her off." finished Ed.

"Brother, _really_." Al scolded.

"Aw, come on, Al, you know it's true!"

Roy smirked, amused. Al reddened, suddenly remembering that they had company.

"Uh, so... now what are you guys going to do?"

"Well... we'd like to publish our findings," said Maes. "If we have your permission, that is."

"The Sins are locked up," said Roy. "You don't have to worry about them..."

"And we'll exclude all mention of alchemy." finished Riza.

Ed and Al looked uncertain.

"We'd have to think about that." said Al. "Do you mind if we talk to Izumi?"

"Of course not." said Roy, but he said it with a sinking feeling.

_Somehow, _he thought, _I can't see this going our way._


	21. The Final Question

_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

* * *

_

**CHAPTER TWENTY: The Final Question**

"...So that's it," Al finished explaining. "What should we do?"

Izumi studied the two boys for a long, long while.

"Izumi?" asked Ed.

"What's it like, living a life in hiding?"

Ed and Al blinked at the sudden question.

"Well... it's not really in hiding. Not as much as it used to be." said Al, after a while. "When we were kids... well, it's silly, but I always got the feeling that maybe they were kind of ashamed of us... our alchemy, you know? I know they weren't," he hastened to add, "But... it felt that way. Just a little."

"Yeah," Ed nodded. "It was sort of... I don't know. We were always being rushed off to our rooms when we had company, having to lie about things..."

"Did you ever feel you were missing out? Did you ever feel lonely?"

"Well, sure," Ed shrugged. "But it was alright. I mean, we had Mum and Dad, and each other, of course. I never really thought about it, to be honest. What's with the questions?"

"Even now..." Izumi sighed. "Doesn't it bother you to use false names? Hide your intelligence? Don't you ever wonder if, maybe, just maybe, you'd go further as Edward and Alphonse Elric than you ever could as Edward and Alphonse Curtis?"

There was a brief, shocked silence. "Izumi, are you suggesting...?"

"Maybe the world's ready for alchemy again," she said softly. "And maybe you two are ready to stop hiding."

"But- what about Ishbal? War? Izumi-"

"Medicine," said Izumi abruptly. "Cures for life-threatening illnesses. Inventions that could save lives. World hunger! Ed, have you ever wondered what alchemy could do about world hunger? Al, haven't you ever considered the possibilities for _peace?"_

"Alchemy isn't just some magical solution-!"

"I know that!" Izumi interrupted. "But it is a solution, isn't it? Alchemy isn't the only dangerous thing in the world. Locking alchemy away forever won't stop people from getting hurt, it won't stop people from dying! Eventually someone else will find the missing piece. What if that person isn't as conscientious as you? You have an opportunity to introduce alchemy to the world on _your _terms. People will do bad things, yes! But people will always do bad things- with or without alchemy!"

Al bit his lip. Ed looked torn.

"There are good people out there, people who do good things. With alchemy, those people could do _amazing_ things." she said gently. "Knowledge should be free. It should be for everyone. And you two should be yourselves."

"But... if people get hurt because of alchemy, it'll be our fault." Edward protested.

"No," said Izumi. "It'll be the fault of those who chose to use it poorly. We don't lay the blame for every murder on the person who made the weapon- we blame it on the person who chose to use that weapon in that way."

"But-"

"There will be laws, won't there?" Izumi pointed out. "The use of alchemy can be regulated. Come on, Ed, Al... what was that old motto you found?"

"Alchemist, be thou for the people..." Al murmured.

"Exactly." Izumi said.

Ed couldn't come to a decision.

_People will do terrible things._

_Yes, they will. They'll also do wonderful things._

_People will get hurt._

_And other people may be saved. Besides... people already get hurt._

_The world isn't ready._

_Maybe it isn't. Maybe it never will be. But who am I to decide?_

_What if it's the wrong thing to do, and I do it?_

_What if it's the right thing to do, and I don't?

* * *

_

"What do you think they're gonna say?"

Roy sighed. "I don't know, but I doubt it's going to be good news for us."

"We don't know that," said Riza. "Mrs Curtis is a little _fierce_, but I have no doubt that she is a reasonable and intelligent woman. The boys obviously like her... who knows?"

There was a brief silence as they considered this.

"We are so doomed."

"Jean!" Riza scolded."I'm sure that's not the case."

"Look, let's not leap to conclusions. I'm sure they won't be much longer." said Maes- and he was right, because at that moment, Edward and Alphonse Elric stepped back into the room, Izumi behind them.

"We've... we've has a long talk about it," said Alphonse. "And we've come to a decision."

"And... what have you decided?"

"We're going to allow you to tell the world the story," he took a deep breath, "The _whole _story."


	22. Out of Hiding

_After this, there'll be an epilogue, and then it's finished._

_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing_.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Out of Hiding**

"Tell the whole world. It's time all of this was out in the open," said Edward. "Alchemy shouldn't belong to just a few select people, but to everyone. And Al and I... well, Izumi said it was time we stopped hiding, and think she's right."

"We're going to present our father's findings to Central Imperial College," said Alphonse, "As well as our own research. We hope- well, we hope that you'll be willing to donate some of the profit from your publication to funding an alchemy academy of sorts."

Well, of course we will." Roy said without a second thought. "We'd be sending you a good share of the profit anyway. This is _your _life story we'd be publishing..." he trailed off. "This has come as kind of a shock," he admitted. "I'd hoped you'd let us publish at least some of our findings, but we didn't expect this..."

"They shouldn't have to live in hiding," explained Izumi. "It's time to come out and tell the world. The boys were too young before, but now... they're ready."

Riza felt slightly overwhelmed by the turn of events, but did her best to keep a calm front. "I'm glad you've decided to do this," she said. "We'll send you our drafts for approval before publication, and personally, I'd like to offer you my full support for the future."

"No kidding!" said Jean. "This is the biggest story in a century- you ever need a favour, just call."

Maes grinned. "The same goes for the rest of us."

"Thank you," Alphonse treated them to a sunny smile. "Now... did you have anything you wanted to ask us? Any loose ends you need tied up?"

The group exchanged glances.

Roy grinned.

"Well..." he said. "There is _one _thing..."

Kain gave them a hopeful smile. "Can we please see some alchemy? I've been dying to ask ever since we got here."

"That," Edward smirked, "is no problem at all. Chalk, Al?"

"Here, brother." He handed over a white stub. "What shall we transmute?"

Ed looked thoughtful, and then turned to their guests. "Any of you got a suggestion?"

Maes's face lit up.

"Could you make something for my daughter? She is just the most _precious-"_

"Stop there, Maes," said Roy. He turned to the Elrics. "Maes here is the incredibly proud father of one three-year-old girl , and if you get him started he'll be singing her praises for hours."

"We could make a doll," suggested Ed. "I'm sure we had some leftover fabric, and we could use the stuffing from that pillow that got torn yesterday..."

Al nodded. "That'll work. Alright, brother, I'll get the materials."

Ed chalked a perfect circle onto the tabletop with practiced ease, quickly filling in geometric shapes and a few strange symbols. Alphonse left the room and returned just moments later with a pile of scrap fabric and a torn cushion.

"Alright, on three... I'll warn you, the light can be kinda bright... One, two, three!"

Roy had seen movies with alchemists. They would draw bizarre circles and then there would be a great crashing sound and the circle would practically explode with light.

This was smaller, but a thousand- a _million_ times more impressive.

The transmutation seemed to go on and on as Roy stared in absolute astonishment. He'd known that the Elric brothers could perform alchemy, but... to see it actually happen...

_Alchemy. Real alchemy. This is- it's- _

_Beautiful. It's beautiful. I've never- never in my life- seen anything like this. The movies have __**nothing **__on this- I can't even..._

_I would never have dreamed that alchemy was so beautiful._

The light faded and a completed doll lay in the centre of the array. Still mesmerised by what they'd just seen, nobody spoke, nobody even moved for a moment- until Roy gingerly reached out to the array.

He looked to Ed and Al for permission, and after receiving an encouraging nod, he picked up the doll.

It was just a doll. Just a kid's toy. It weighed maybe a few grams in total... but it felt heavy in his hands. He turned it over and looked into its smiling face.

"Maes," he said, a little hoarsely, "Your daughter is going to have the coolest doll in the world."

"Yeah," Maes agreed, stunned. "I think I'd have to agree with that."

Ed smirked. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"Definitely." Riza nodded.

"I've seen that a thousand times or more, but I never get tired of seeing it," said Izumi. "It's incredible."

"I don't think there are even words for it." Kain said.

"I'm glad," beamed Al. "But it's getting kind of late. We'll set up somewhere for you to sleep, and we'll answer your questions tomorrow."


	23. Epiloge: Brought to Light

_I apologise! this chapter is very late, and I really have no excuse. Writer's block is a real pain..._

_In other news... this is it. It's over! This was my first attempt at writing a decent mystery, so please, do leave your comments, and if you have any questions, or you think something wasn't quite wrapped up, do ask! A huge thank you to everyone who's left a review, I really appreciate it._ _I hope you've enjoyed it- thank you for reading!_

* * *

**EPILOGUE: Brought to Light**

The reintroduction of alchemy got off to a rocky start.

"Real cute, kid. Now get out of here and bother someone else."

Edward glared. "We're serious."

The receptionist snorted. "Okay, listen up. This place? This is an important institution. No-one here has time for your little games, alright? Good joke, but it's over now. _Get. Out."_

"Please, sir," attempted Alphonse. "I understand that you're a little dubious about the situation, but I assure you, we're not joking."

The receptionist frowned. "Look, if you don't stop this nonsense I'm going to call security."

Edward growled. "That's it. I've had enough of this."

He snatched a notepad from the desk and scrawled an array onto it. He dropped to his knees, placed the array on the floor and activated it.

And lo, there was chaos.

* * *

Alphonse snatched the array from his brother and clambered onto the receptionist's desk. "Everybody, please, calm down!"

The pandemonium did not cease.

Alphonse took a deep breath.

"I said_ **QUIET!"**_

Everyone stopped.

Alphonse smiled nervously. "Ah, thank you."

Edward gave his brother a worried look. Alphonse ignored him.

"We don't want to cause any bother," he assured the room. "I'll, um, I'll return your floor to its original state, shall I?"

He placed the snatched array on the enormous stone dragon his brother had transmuted from the floor mere moments before. With a crackle of alchemy and a flash of light, the statue melted and sank back into the ground as if it had never even existed.

The room gaped at him.

"My brother and I would like to present our father's research on alchemy. If we could arrange an appointment at some point in the near future, that would be great."

The receptionist, white-faced, nodded.

"I'll... I'll just call Mr Hakuro for you," he managed to stutter.

"Oh, _good_." Alphonse gave the man a sunny smile. The rest of the room took a step back.

* * *

Once the initial shock had worn off, the people at Central Imperial College had been more than happy to take a look at the brothers' work. They had eagerly agreed to provide the boys with whatever funds they needed and had put them in contact with military higher-ups and government officials to sort out the legal side of things. General Basque Grand had been put in charge of the military's alchemy branch, and he and Edward had taken an instant dislike to each other.

"_No. State. Alchemists." _

"Mr Elric," Grand said, narrowing his eyes. "I think I will decide what is best for this country's military-"

"No! Go check your history books- alchemy as a weapon _does not work. _There will be no state alchemists. We refuse to be responsible for allowing another Ishbal."

Alphonse nodded. "Use it to make your guns if you will- to feed your soldiers- but there will be no alchemy on the battlefield except medicinal alchemy." he said. "Science that doesn't benefit people is no science at all."

Grand glared.

"Alchemical warfare can't end happily," Edward told him. "We won't stop you from using alchemy completely, but we refuse to have alchemists on the battlefield- and if you try to go against us, then we will take our research and _burn it._"

"You have already begun to teach people alchemy," said Grand, "you can't control them."

Edward's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"They won't tell you either, General, and we haven't yet published any of our findings. I can call the _New Science Journal _now and withdraw the article; we can destroy our book and all of our father's research. We made the decision to tell the world because we wanted alchemy to be a force for good, and for that to work, there will be rules. You can accept those rules- or we can take it all back."

Edward could practically feel the fury radiating from the man.

"And what," he seethed, "would these rules of yours be?"

"No state alchemists," said Edward promptly.

"No making gold," added Alphonse. "No chimeras. No morally reprehensible experiments involving humans or animals."

"No human transmutation." Edward said.

Alphonse nodded. "That's _very_ important."

"Those rules are going to be absolute. No bending or breaking allowed, under any circumstances." Edward finished. "We'll probably think of a few others too, but those are the most important ones. We want those rules to be made laws, and if they aren't, we're going to get rid of alchemy all over again. We are very, very serious about this, General."

Grand seethed.

"I think these young men are right, General," a Member of Parliament said. "We all remember learning about Ishbal. That was not war, it was genocide- and in these enlightened days I'm sure nobody wants anything like that."

Grand scowled at the MP. "Our military could greatly benefit from these new advances."

"The military can benefit without bringing alchemy to the front lines," the MP said calmly. "And besides, Mr and Mr Elric have made it quite clear- unless these laws are made, we will have no alchemy at all, General."

Edward nodded, smirking. "You heard the man."

"_Fine_." Grand bit out. "But I want permission to use it off the battlefield- for weapon manufacture, medical purposes and experiments."

"As long as you stick to the regulations that will be acceptable."

An agreement was eventually reached, and a detailed set of rules and regulations was drawn up. The Alchemy Act was passed later that month.

* * *

"Ugh! I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

Alphonse nodded tiredly. "I know what you mean."

Roy smirked at them. "Enjoying your newfound fame and fortune, I see."

"Oh, don't even start, Mustang." muttered Ed rudely.

"Yes sir, Mr Elric." Roy replied mockingly. Edward threw a balled-up sheet of paper at him.

After they'd found the Elric brothers, Roy had approached them to ask about alchemy lessons. Ed had agreed to take him on as a student, and they got on like a house on fire- _exactly_ like a house on fire. Everyone had very quickly learned that when Roy and Ed started arguing, it was best not to interfere.

Still, Ed had to begrudgingly admit that Roy was a quick learner. He had caught onto the principles of alchemy with surprising speed and was already starting to come up with his own ideas. Edward would never have admitted it to anyone, but he was actually rather pleased with how well his student was progressing.

Roy unfolded the paper Ed had thrown at him. It was a letter from General Grand.

"You sure you should be throwing this about, Ed?"

"I've already answered it." Ed sighed. "He's just trying to get around the rules, that's all. I told him to shut the hell up and get over it."

"Brother!" Alphonse scolded. "You didn't really tell him that, did you?"

"Not in so many words, but basically... yes."

Roy snickered. "I can see someone's not quite cut out for diplomacy."

Ed glared at him. "Stick a sock in it."

"Brother, please don't start another argument with Mr Mustang. It's too late to be bothering with that."

Roy smirked, and said the fatal words: "I'll drop it if shorty will."

"_**WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE COULD DROWN IN A PUDDLE?"**_

Alphonse grabbed his brother just in time to stop him from leaping at Roy.

"Al, let me go!"

"Not unless you promise to calm down!"

"Oh, I will- just let me beat the crap out that bastard first!"

"Brother!"

Roy grinned. He had discovered Edward's 'short' temper a day or so after meeting him, and he took delight in provoking him. He did, however, feel sorry for Alphonse, so on this occasion at least he would apologise.

"Okay, Edward, I'm sorry. Now calm down, before your poor brother snaps."

Edward scowled at him, but did indeed calm down. Alphonse sighed.

"Honestly." He muttered. "I swear, you two act like kids."

"He started it." muttered Edward.

"That's exactly what I mean."

* * *

The world around them was changing dramatically. Edward and Alphonse barely had time to themselves- they were teaching classes of hundreds every week and being bombarded with questions from all angles. It was hectic, but at the same time, it was exhilarating- to finally tell the truth, finally come out of hiding. Izumi had been right about that.

Ed and Al still lived with the Curtises, and still worked as delivery boys for her shop when they had the time. Famous or not, said Izumi, there was no chance they were slacking off.

Roy and company had their book published. It was titled _Truths and Legends; the Secrets of the Elric Murders, _and it was dedicated to the memory of Hoenheim and Trisha Elric.

Rizembul adapted to the influx of tourists with little fuss. They gave tours around the Elric mansion and lead people on walks through the surrounding countryside, and they were even building their own alchemy school.

Roy's group was still working together, and they were already on the lookout for a new case. Roy had heard there was something going on in a little place called Xenotine that sounded interesting...

And finally, the gang known as the Sins had been charged with two counts of first degree murder. It made no difference to their sentences, but still, it felt right- justice had finally been served.


End file.
